US Set lock (brass military padlock)

[Squelchtone]

Hi all,

Just joined and have been picking for about a week now after I got my southord set...about a week ago:). Anyway, I have a friend who also picks and let me borrow a US SET lock. It's got a really tight keyway and I haven't gotten it picked, but I also haven't been able to find any information about it. Was wondering if people here could help! I'll post pictures, but the lock has as "N8" on the keyway. I'm trying to get into the art of TOK torsion because of that extremely small keyway. Thanks for any help! I'll keep working on SPPing it and post back when I get it:).

vienessewaltzer

pics:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/220/20111217124857741.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/694/20111217124842674.jpg/

[Squelchtone]

That's a very nice old US military general purpose padlock you have there. This one is interesting because it has what looks like a Yale Y1 keyway. That keyway is very paracentric and can be a chore to pick, but if you step up to the challenge I'm sure you can do it. If this is your first lock picking attempt ever, it may be better to get some practice time with a much easier to pick Master Lock No 3 or an old Kwikset deadbolt.

Keep at it and happy picking!
Squelchtone

[vienessewaltzer]

Yeah the keyway is the toughest part. I already mastered an old no. 3, masterlock m1, masterlock no 575, and cheap 10$ kwikset deadbolt. I sort of wish I had a smaller half hook to work with to avoid pushing pins past the shear line inadvertently.

[vienessewaltzer]

So this was a REALLY tough pick for me, but I finally got it. I was sitting there failing constantly and then I thought "maybe there are security pins in this thing". So I started checking and sure enough, there are indeed security pins and using the technique for security pins allowed me to be beat it. Also, I needed to use a half diamond to get these in a false set. I couldn't use a half hook from my southard set as it would drive the pins way too far down not allowing a false set (which was very subtle). I've posted a video for anyone else attempting to pick this particular lock.

Here's the video, hope this is useful for others trying to pick this lock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9z252r-tHg

[Nismo-san]

i had a military padlock that took me a very very long time to figure out.mine had serrated pins to boot. did yours? i heard most all military padlocks had them.

[MacGyver101]

I'm type of all out of thoughts. I do think that the S1 placed on the connect is a sub device observing. In the Sea Corps, the Management store is called S1, so I don't think that has anything to do with the style of the secure.

[Josh66]

I have a similar old military lock that I lost the key for. It has been giving me a hard time - haven't been able to open it yet...

I was half tempted to take it apart and see what's in there, but I'd rather not destroy it in case I find the key one day.

[DayZiro]

Congrats on picking a lock with security pins. That's quite an accomplishment for just starting picking. The regular (non slim line) southord set tends to be on the big side. I assume to prevent beginners with heavy hands from bending their picks right out of the gate.