Tips and tricks to using a manual pick gun?

[ridinplugspinnaz]

So a little while back I decided to buy the Brockhage pick gun, based on some generally favorable reviews for it. However, I don't seem to be a great deal of luck with it so far. For those of you that own pick / snap guns, do you have any advice on how to use it successfully? I know getting the tension right is important (and can be tricky), but what else should I be doing / looking for / feeling for?

[raimundo]

Look at the keyway before you put the probe in, look at where the bottom of the pins are in the warding, place the probe under the pins and ...
angle it....
so that its stroke will go in the direction that the warding permits at the level of the pin bottoms,

do not use the high force settings, reduce this, and do not try to make the stroke of the probe long, it only needs to strike bottom pins sharply and all at once, make sure its level with the bottoms of the pins, not angled up or down as it enters the keyway. the probe need not strike the pins in a direct upward stroke, if the warding does not permit it. get the probe under the pins and strike them, if you strike at a 45 degree angle to the direction of the bible/drillings, that works, as the pins can only go in the direction of the drillings that they are in. You only need to strike the bottom pins enough to transmit force to the top pins, you really don't have to move them very far at all.

The next part is the tension, use light tension if the lock does not require countering a plug return spring.

[thelockpickkid]

I have a pick gun and I use it every once in a while, I use it with about 70 percent success, usually I will pick gun a lock and then finish with a hook on whatever pins don't properly set, most other times it takes about 3 seconds to open a lock. When you practice using it, use it on door locks, deadbolts, ETC, don't practice on padlocks, because it is hard to get the pick in the right place and hold the lock right, I have used it on padlocks and it works, but you tend to hold the lock at the wrong angle, for the pick to properly work.

[PickPhooey]

I have one of these things, it took some time to get used to. As with SPP'ing, brand new locks are somewhat of a stumbling block due to tolerances. I have good success rates with this gun versus spool pins, mushroom pins etc. There are a couple of Master padlocks however I can't pick with this gun, or SPP'ing for that matter. But again, i'm as newb as it gets. Just my .02........

Phooey

[Artkrp]

Pretty much just reiterating what Raimundo said. Make sure you address the profile in such a way as to make contact with your pins when the gun pops. Also keep the gun as close to perfectly paralel to the pinstacks as possible. you don't want any sag in your aim, although turning your gun 10-30 degrees to insure proper striking upon the pinstacks is acceptable. You will find that you will have to do this with all schlage keyways.another VERY important thing is to brace the gun in place when pulling the trigger. this can be achieved by using a firm grip and a locked wrist. this helps with making even contact with all the pins at once, which is very important when using one of these tools.
You will find with a little practice these tools come in great when doing a lockout and they will eat Schlage F line apart as well as all Weiser, kwikset and other similar locks. Sometime they will just pop open a Schlage A line which will make your call at 3 in the morning much easier.
Have fun and don't use your gun like a crutch because when it all boils down to it they don't open everything and SPP is the heart of picking

[PickPhooey]

Just a question for all, are the electric pick guns worth the $$ or are they overrated? I've been thinking about it and i'm kinda on the fence. Any experiences to share? Recommend or steer clear?

Phooey-

[peejay52]

excellent advice for us....thanxxxxxxx

[Eyes_Only]

Just a question for all, are the electric pick guns worth the $$ or are they overrated? I've been thinking about it and i'm kinda on the fence. Any experiences to share? Recommend or steer clear?

Phooey-

In the 10 years as a hobbyist and two of those working as a locksmith I've never felt that I needed to invest in a electric pick gun. Out in the field opening locks for customers I've used my Peterson hook pick 99% of the time and my manual pick gun maybe 3 separate times. But that's just my experience and personal feeling about the tool. I've also never used one before so I totally can't attest to its effectiveness or utility.

[lancoff]

I have owned a couple of snap picks over the years. They are interesting little devices, but they can be confusing even if your experienced. I agree with what others have said, that the two most important things are correctly making contact with the pins and light tension. To add to the second tip I have found it helps if while you are applying light tension you also let up on the tension wrench ever so slightly every so often. You do not want to take all of the tension off of the wrench, but just a enough to let the pins that have not set move more freely. Hope this helps, and best of luck.

[npdaniels]

If you want to open a lock in seconds with little to no skill involved buy electric pick gun. They work well but like is said it just vibrates the pins till it opens. NO SKILL NEEDED.

Pick guns are a little more time consuming and do require a little more skill. They do work well if the needle is at the right angle in the keyway and the gun is set to the right stiffness for the pins.

But nothing beats your manual pick set.

I have opened locks manually that neither an electric or snap gun could open.

Also I have opened locks with my pick gun that within a timely fashion I could not successfully pick with my manual picks.

It’s all about how much time you want to invest into picking a lock.