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NATO Mersey Lock

Information about locks themselves. Questions, tips and lock diagram information should be posted here.

NATO Mersey Lock

Postby MacGyver101 » 30 Mar 2010 13:12

Barry Wels had a brief article about the NATO Lever Lock on his blog a few years ago, along with a pointer to Oliver Diederichsen's image... so this isn't anything new, but it was new to me, so I figured that I'd share. :)

I'd ordered a Mersey Lock from eBay a couple of weeks ago, and it arrived last night. It came pretty heavily corroded and banged up, but after several hours of cleaning and repair it cleaned up not too badly.

These locks were used until at least 1997 (and may still be in service?) by the Ministry of Defense in the UK, to secure "classified materials" file cabinets, safes and storerooms. This particular one was installed onto a secure file cabinet -- and, from the shape of things, I'm guessing that the cabinet fell over while the key was inserted in the lock. :? (The shaft of the key was heavily bent when it arrived, and the bottom plate of the lock is dented and warped about 1/8" out of square.) All adds to the character of it, I suppose. :wink:

The lock contains 14 levers, divided into two equal stacks, and uses a unique V-shaped key that is non-symmetric. The back of the lock is stamped with its NATO designation and serial number. (The bottom of the key ends up just above the word "CODE" in the "NATO CODE" stamping: you can clearly see a dent from where the key was forced quite heavily into the lock at some point.)

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The front of the lock is normally covered by a black plastic shroud, which protrudes through the front of the container when the lock is installed, and acts as a key guide:

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The screws that hold the lock together are located under the plastic shroud. As an anti-tamper measure, the shroud is held in place by a notch on the main locking bolt -- so that the plastic cover can only be removed when the lock is open. (The lock is key-retaining, to prevent it from being inadvertently left in an open state.) The following two photos show the lock with the plastic cover removed:

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The bottom plate contains a partial curtain, acting as both a key guide and an anti-picking measure. The small strip to the right of the curtain is a spring that helps prevent the curtain from moving when there isn't a key inserted.

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Inside the lock (this view is from the back of the lock, with the rear plate removed) are the fourteen levers. Clearly visible are the two steel stumps on the bolt; each stump is notched and will trap any levers that aren't in the correct position when bolt is tensioned. Barely visible on the right and left side of the bolt (roughly in line with the top of the levers) are two small, black strips of spring steel. These springs help to ensure that the bolt springs back to a fully closed position, which serves two purposes: (i) it ensures that the levers are released and properly reset when the key is removed; and, (ii) it activates the deadlock mechanism that prevents pressure on the bolt from pressing onto the levers once the key is removed. (It's hard to see with the levers installed, but the dead-locking latches are on both sides of the bolt -- they engage once the bolt is fully locked, to capture the bolt and stop it from moving, and release as soon as any key presses against the levers.)

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This final image shows the lever packs properly aligned with the key. The dead-locking latches are visible, just below the copper-coloured lever springs:

    Image

As an aside to anyone else who might be tempted to strip one of these down: do not remove the leaf springs from the sides of the locking bolt... they are an unbelievable pain to crimp back into place. :wink:
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby datagram » 30 Mar 2010 13:40

Great post, I'm actually working on the Lockwiki page for this as we speak. Would you be willing to upload the images onto Lockwiki? PM me if you need any help.

Thanks,
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby MacGyver101 » 30 Mar 2010 14:54

datagram wrote:Would you be willing to upload the images onto Lockwiki?

Absolutely! Done. :)
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby mh » 30 Mar 2010 23:24

very nice post!! Thanks!
"The techs discovered that German locks were particularly difficult" - Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton w. Henry R. Schlesinger, Spycraft: The secret history of the CIA's spytechs from communism to Al-Qaeda (New York: Dutton, 2008), p. 210
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby lunchb0x » 31 Mar 2010 3:12

X 2 on being a good post, looks like a nice lock to have in the collection.
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby raimundo » 31 Mar 2010 8:31

First Ive heard of this one, what was the price, or did I miss reading it in the op. I wonder if there are more of these on ebay.

good post. good photos.

ray
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby MacGyver101 » 31 Mar 2010 9:03

Thanks, all, for the kind words! :-) I have a few other locks, including a nice Bramah padlock, that I keep meaning to get photographed and posted up here... should do that this weekend!

raimundo wrote:...what was the price, or did I miss reading it in the op. I wonder if there are more of these on ebay.

I paid just over $40, and other folks (including Han Fey, from the looks of it) were lucky enough to have found them recently for less.

My only concern is that the guy who's been listing them was a bit funny to deal with, and I see from his recent feedback that I'm not the only one to have recently received a damaged lock (he admitted as much to me in our correspondence, although claimed that Customs inspectors have been breaking them all). :? Personally, I'm going to hold off a bit and keep an eye on his feedback before making a second purchase -- which is a shame, as he frequently seems to have interesting stuff for sale and has received a lot of good feedback in the past.
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby nataz » 31 Mar 2010 9:29

was the seller vitara512?
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby MacGyver101 » 31 Mar 2010 9:38

nataz wrote:was the seller vitara512?

PM sent.
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby tballard » 31 Mar 2010 16:08

Awesome post, and great pictures. Now I have a new lock to obsess over. Thanks... (I think... ;) )
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby nataz » 5 Apr 2010 0:22

btw, from the looks of google these are not in service/are discontinued. I wonder if that means we’ll see more floating around ebay now?
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby datagram » 5 Apr 2010 10:41

Does anyone have keying/differ information for this lock? That's about all I need to finish up the Lockwiki article. Any other info you might have would be helpful, too.

Thanks!
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby nataz » 5 Apr 2010 11:07

did you look through the comments on blackbag? There is also a defense supply manual online that talks a little bit about it.
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby alfabravo » 15 Sep 2010 7:38

does anyone have succefully picked it?
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Re: NATO Mersey Lock

Postby twixt3&20characters » 23 Jan 2013 18:11

These 14 lever Mersey locks used to be in wide spread use in UK Government organisations, but they have been superceded now. They replaced old Chubb 6 lever detector locks. Their security came from there only being two keys in use, and difficulty in obtaining copies. Keys were carefully accounted for and usually kept in a key safe fitted with a MkIV manifoil combination lock. If a key was lost the lock was scrapped- they didn't run the risk that a mislaid key was off being replicated. The Keys have a serial number matching the lock beginning with M-. The double flags have a slightly different profile on each flag. They used to be considered virtually unpickable, but I understand that is not the case and there is, I am told, a locksmith somewhere on the South Coast who can pick them and make duplicate keys. They are most frequently used on stiles fitted to the front of 4 or 2 drawer filing cabinets, and as the key is retained in the lock when opened they suffer damage if the style is dropped, invariably bending the key. The replacement for the Mersey is the Medeco "Ribble" lock but nowadays HM Government favours the Chubb MkIV/MkVIII, Kaba-Mas Hamilton electric combination or ILS scroll locks in place of complicated key management systems, and in the case of the electric locks greater auditability. But still a lot of Mersey locks in use, but for low value assets.
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