Plug turns, but still unlocked???

[fallennomad]

Okay, I just tried picking my friend's lock, she left her keys at work. I don't know what brand the lock is, it could be just about any brand for all I know: golden knob and all, could be anything. The five pins are on the bottom, and it turns clockwise.

I started off by trying to pick single pins. Eventually, I got to the point where I turned the plug. But for some odd reason, it only went half way, to the three o' clock position. After some jiggling around, I gave up and reset it. This time it went all the way down the six o'clock position. It still didn't work.

The apartment mate wanted to give it another shot (she tried it earlier), so I gave her the (forgive me, I don't know the name of this particular pick) the double-ball one, the one that looks like an 8. She jimmied it around rather aggressively, bending my pick slightly, but she got it open. She claimed that she felt something at the back loosen up after I was able to rotate the plug.

My question is: what happened here?
Situation 1: plug turned half way to 3 o' clock position.
Situation 2: plug turned fully to 6 o' clock position.
Situation 3: door opened after aggressive jimmying, claiming something at the back to be key to success

Thanks everyone!

[dougfarre]

It sounds like you unlocked the lock and then didn't supply the right amount of tension to continue unlocking the door? Either way, your friend showed you up with your own set of tools, how does that make you feel?

[fallennomad]

I'm not a proud guy, so I'm glad that she got it open for my friend so that she could get to sleep. I also don't feel threatened because she just basically bumped the lock. I prefer the art of picking and it's what I'm trying to learn. Burglars will probably find a way into a house faster than I can pick for the longest time until I master it, but I'll be happy and proud of my skills. That apartment mate can toot her horn all she wants, but the last time she did that to her own lock she ended up damaging it and it mysteriously locks itself from time to time now. I'm in this for NDE, and her method apparently is not so non-destructive.

So how do I remedy it? I left the plug just sitting there and removed the pick and wrench to take a break. What could I have done instead? When the plug was turned, I tried to turn the knob but nothing...

[Safety0ff]

My question is: what happened here?
Situation 1: plug turned half way to 3 o' clock position.
Situation 2: plug turned fully to 6 o' clock position.
Situation 3: door opened after aggressive jimmying, claiming something at the back to be key to success

Situation 2: Might have not happened had it been clean/lubed first.

Situation 3: Probably was the last binding pin that she lifted.

[keysman]

What could I have done instead? When the plug was turned, I tried to turn the knob but nothing...

my guess is the lock is a kwickset .. it only unlocks by turning the correct way , although it will turn the " wrong way".
When you have the key try it and see what you can figure out

[fallennomad]

I will check if it is a Kwikset, though the brand of the doorknob is not shown. I will also check with her to see which way it's supposed to open.

As for my friend's apartment mate jimmying the lock, she began it from a fresh start, meaning I had not set any pins for her or anything like that. Might it just be a case of "bumping"? She seems to be quite reckless with the jostling. She appears to have damaged her own lock, but overall, is aggressive twisting and turning and jostling a surefire way to ruin your lock?

[robotmaxtron]

any kind of movements that do not replicate normal everyday use with a key can and will inevitably break or damage the lock.

[Legion303]

She jimmied it around rather aggressively

This girl's a keeper, you lucky...wait, are we still talking about lockpicking? Yeah, that's probably a bad thing...

-steve