Schlage deadbolt troubles

[Nelrond]

So I've recently purchased a Schlage lock, single cylinder deadbolt and I am having a crazy time with this thing.

The cutting is 73838 and after taking it apart I found it has 4 security pins and 1 regular pin.

I pick each pin individually (I've gotten pretty good at this, most locks give me no trouble) and whenever I think I get close to cracking it, it turns out I set a security pin.

Anybody have any tips to make my life easier? I'm thinking of buying one with a less dramatic cutting to get a better feel for it.

[chaos4zap]

You might want to think about removing the cylinder from the lock (if you can without any special tools, I have a Schlage mortise cylinder that I have yet to remove the cylinder from because I don't have a working key and you need to get a special key cut to match a working one to remove it) and removing a few of the security pins. Leave the regular pin and one security pin in it and work with that. Once you got the hang of it, add one more security pin...and so on. Maybe you could try the method of pushing all the pins up all the way and apply enough tension to hold them all up, then scrub the pins while you slowly release pressure (I think this only works when the top pins only are security pins, but I could be wrong). You should be able to rake it open, but I'm assuming you are not simply just trying to open the lock and are after the challenge. I don't have much experience yet with SPP multiple security pins, so maybe other will be able to provide more help in that department.

[Nelrond]

Ya, I am very much after the challenge and prefer the idea of feeling when I "beat" that ANSI-1 lock.

Though your idea seems the most plausible solution.

[chaos4zap]

Once again, I could be wrong..but the impression I got from reading other posts on this site is that that ANSI rating only has to do with the quality and durability of the lock, not so much the actual "security" in the "how easily it can be picked" category. It's slightly misleading for those of us into the hobby, but it makes some kind of sense if you think about it. A cheap $10 deadbolt from some discount store will probably be much easier to kick in, hammer, or otherwise bypass by destructive methods. A deadbolt of better construction will probably put up much of a fight. Not that any of this matters, I just thought I would point it out as a FYI. Since it is extremely rare for a thief to actually learn and utilize lock picking for your run of the mill smash and grab, I just don't think that the "pickability" of the lock is a primary security concern for manufactures or customers.