Master Lock Mystery?

[cardiak]

HI, can any of you guys from the other side of the pond help? what it is, is that I picked up a couple of old looking padlocks "without keys" at a local car-boot sale, now the one that I am trying to find out some info on is a square shaped brass padlock approx 1 3/4" bye 1 1/2" on one side it has a lion in the centre with the word master and USN stamped on it, with the code U3170 and on the other side it has stamped on it, master lock co, pat pend, made in USA, Milwaukee, with 88 stamped on it, also on the shackle is hinged piece of brass with a link of chain on it? can any one shed any light on this? approx age? use? and I dont want to sound an idiot but could the USN stand for United States Navy? or would that be too obvious? any feedback would be greatly appreciated. thx in advance.

[Chucklz]

It is indeed a US navy padlock. Master does, and still continues to make locks for the US government and armed forces. These locks will almost always be brass, with an attached chain, or the ability to have such a chain added at a later time. Additionally, these locks are Key retaining. The lock is not masterkeyed, or else it would say "SET" somewhere on it, to denoate that it belongs to a set of locks, and then would presumably have a code denoting to which master it belonged etc. The lion logo hasn't been used in a long time. I would venture to say that your lock is WW2 to 1970's vintage.

[Pheniox]

I will look into it monday at work, I see them used all the time, but can't remember for the life of me what they are used on.