Lock Pick Gun & Deadbolt Trouble

[Perfectblue]

I am a novice at lock picking. I just picked up a lock pick gun and having a very difficult time with the basic front door cylindrical deadbolt. I watched some video tutorials and I am still having difficulty with it, and they appear to make it look very easy.

Here is what I have tried so far:
Applying constant, gentle pressure on the tension wrench
Firing gun in quick succession
Ensured the pick needle is not jammed all the way to the back

I purchased a Schlage deadbolt at the local hardware store to practice on (shown in the image below) and practice on my home door as well. Any tips?

[GWiens2001]

First suggestion... Stop picking your door lock!!! Practice on the one you bought for practice. You don't want to mess up the lock you depend on.

As for how to use the pick gun, can't help you there. Don't own one, so have not been able to practice. But I can say that I was given a Master #5 padlock a few days ago, because they thought they had mixed up keys, and could not find the keys. Turns out, they had the right key, but the 4th pin had a broken spring. I learned this after impressioning a key for it, and found that if I hold the lock pin side up and tap it once, I can hear the pin fall down, and the key I made works great. Flip it over and tap it once, the pin can be heard dropping again, and the key does not work. I told the previous owner about the broken spring, and he asked if using a pick gun could cause that.

Nuff said.

Gordon

[catsoup]

Pick guns arent really a great place to start picking, you won't learn very much from them. (IMO)

The technique is pretty straight forward, and you are probably doing it correctly. Insert tip, apply tension, squeeze trigger.

My experience with pick guns is that you should vary your tension constantly (especially when working on a lock you dont know)
Light, medium, very light, light. you know, firing away the whole time. Light is very light with a pick gun.
In addition to this you will want to 'reset' the lock often. If you are using too much tension, which you most likely are, you will get many bound or false-set pins.
If after you attempt it a number of times (5-10 squeezes?) and let off tension completely and hear a bunch of clicks, you are probably using too much tension.

Its unlikely that you will set three pins after 30 seconds, and then set the last two or three after more squeezing.
Pick guns are more of an 'all or nothing' tool, so go to zero and let the pins fall and start again every few seconds.

hope that helps some.

[Perfectblue]

@Catsoup, thanks for your reply. For tension, I am using a very minimal amount. I read its recommended with deadbolts to start at min tension and work your way up as needed. Problem is I have no idea how to feel out what tension a given lock needs.

How do you reset the lock, just wait 10-15 seconds after a failed attempt?

"Pick guns are more of an 'all or nothing' tool, so go to zero and let the pins fall and start again every few seconds."
Is letting it go to zero, the same as resetting the lock?

[zeepia]

Minimum amount of tension what you need is the same when you turn the lock with a key. Usually not much at all.

And resetting/zeroing a lock is when you turn your tension backwards, turn the plug to the state it was before any picking. You don´t have to wait any seconds

[LockDocWa]

The first thing I do when performing a lockout service for a customer is
1) lube the lock, I use Triflow ( a well oiled lock picks much better than a gummed up POS )
2) insert the heaviest tension wrench the locks keyway will allow
3) set the gun with maybe three turns toward heavy, adjust as necessary. ie lock not opening? crank it up a bit.
4) insert the pick gun, (don't allow the tip of the gun to touch the rear end of the plug.)
5) If the keyway will allow you to have the pick square to the pins great, if not, tip the pick.
The pick needs to be able to move freely and not get bound while picking.
6) While picking, after say 3-5 clicks, let loose of the tension wrench, you should hear pins which have been caught drop back into place.
If you don't hear them drop, your doing something wrong.

I open 90% of all the locks I work on with a pickgun.
It takes a little practice to get the feel you need,
typically it is the fastest way to open locks.
Obviously it can't do everything ( dimple, high security, most wafer locks, not great on automotive )
Mostly what I encounter is Kwikset, Weslock, Schlage, Brinks, typical house locks. The pick gun works best on these.

[Perfectblue]

@LockDocWa
"6) While picking, after say 3-5 clicks, let loose of the tension wrench, you should hear pins which have been caught drop back into place.
If you don't hear them drop, your doing something wrong."

Do you apply a constant, feather like pressure on the tension wrench in the direction you would turn the key? Also when you say let "loose" the tension wrench, do you mean just stop applying pressure momentarily?

[LockDocWa]

Personally I use various tension, in the direction I want the key to turn.
Sometimes it is easier to pick a lock to the locked position than the un-locked position.
If you get it to the locked position, use a plug spinner to flip it to the unlocked position.

Yes, stop applying pressure, You need to allow the bottom pins
which have become trapped above the shear line to drop.
Then start picking again, typically 3-5 clicks, then stop
applying pressure, and start picking again.

[maintenanceguy]

Here's what works for me:

• light tension - so light that sometimes you don't even realize you got it right away.
• turn down the power on the pick gun - the pins you're trying to move are tiny and light.
• Position the needle carefully - think about the needle just smacking the bottom of the pins and that's as far as it should go.

Pick guns work for me 80% of the time. But if it doesn't open a lock in the first 4 or 5 clicks, it probably won't open that particular lock if you used it all day. I have no idea what makes some locks open like butter with a pick gun and other locks seem pick gun proof.

[yono]

perfectblue, try this method(also)

Pick the lock(the one you got for practice) WHILE WATCHING THE VIDEO TUTORIAL.(lots of people will laugh at this method..) the reason was..as a beginner you expect to do the same thing as easy as you saw it..and when its not as it seems to be you got frustrated. then you do it again very seriously and again frustrations..when it does not give way as you expected..SO , by picking the lock and watching the video tutorials..you take your mind out of what you are doing, and that take the pressure from your mind, and your subconscious take over(they call it)..try just for 10 minutes..
just for fun..if it open, try it again..and again.when you do it 2, or three times. now pick it, without watching the video.and you will figure it out. most lockpickers open locks successfully..not for the reason that they are good or confident..because they are RELAX. regards.

[Altashot]

A thing about pick gun that is not to be ignored is how you hold the gun.
Don't hold it like a large caliber pistol that'll snap your wrist back, because it wont.
I let mine "float" in my hand, barely holding it. I let the whole thing vibrate as a whole while varying tension.

I had a friend that showed me how to modify my pick gun.
Open it up, cut 2 coils off the spring, stretch to fit, re assemble, and now you have a much finer tuning of the pick gun. It will now tune down to a small snap. Somewhere between the lowest and about mid range of the tension screw, there should be a "sweet spot" where the loosely held pick gun will resonate with itself and...in a way that can only be felt...will vibrate at the right frequency. It bounces the pins very lightly and with tension from medium to lighter than light, it is very delicate. Sometimes a medium hook finishes the job.

The hold, the tension; on the pick gun and the turning wrench, mood, patience and environment all come into play. mastering the pick gun, like mastering the guitar or golf all come down to these three thing.....

Practice, practice, practice.
You'll get it right.

M.

[repopatty]

I recommend that you practice on a regular door lock first. This gets your hands accustomed to the use of the tension wrench as well as the pick gun. You can also practice on a master pad lock. They are both great training locks. Once you get those down then go back to the dead bolt. I personally can do all three with no problem but the dead bolt took me the longest to learn. I practiced while lock was on door and in the locked position as it is much easier then doing while holding it. You need a very strong tension wrench to start. Very light tension as you rake. Once it starts to turn then you must turn it stronger then other locks especially at the end of the turn in order to slide the bolt completely otherwise it may slide partway and then you have to start over. I use a diamond manual pick.

[Hollywoodpick]

That Schlage deadbolt is one of the more easy locks to pick open with just a rake pick i can some3times get them open in less the 15 seconds. When i see that lock i am happy.
I never get a pick gun to work on them i no longer even try to use my pick go or elc pick i took them out of my bag they just never worked.

One thing you may not of thought about is you almost never have to pick open a dead bolt. If you get a call as a locksmith and they locked the keys in the house if the deadbolt is locked do not open it you may even want to call the police. They can not lock the keys in the hose and lock the deadbolt it takes the keys to lock the dead bolt so if that is the story something is wrong!! like the x boyfriend or husband trying to get in the house and trying to use you to do it for him or her.

Only time this is for real is if all keys have been lost but if they drove home then how do they not have the home key on the same ring as the car keys be carfull on this you do not want to be used to break in something for them.

Last week i did have to drill out a dead bolt. This was from a property management company that was having a home appraised and the owner had not giving them the keys and he was out of town. He gave them written permission to have the door opened by me i have a copy of this just in case plus the appraiser was waiting to get in to start working.
The lock was a cheep Brinks lock from walmart and i could not pick it open fast so i drilled it in a few seconds and had it open and replaced it with a KW DB this was a $85 charge i was on location no more then 15 min. I buy the KW DB lock wholesale for $11.

[Quickpicknpay]

Yes, beware of the locked deadbolt when keys have apparantly been locked inside. Question time before any picking is commenced.

I have allways used a rigid tension wrench as I never had much luck with the springy ones.
As mentioned don't hold the gun too tight, it needs to be a little loose in the hand.
I usually give about three to five half winds of the gun dial but all guns are different so this you will have to work out yourself. Start with low tension and wind it up a half turn after each failed attempt. Generally no more than 6-8 half turns are necessary, that's just too much force.
Make sure the needle is in the right position as mentioned in previous posts and with light tention give the gun a few clicks.
Listen for the binded pins to drop, if they don't then you have not applied enough tension. Try again with a little more tension. If you end up applying too much tension you will find the pins will not move freely.
Once you have close to the right ammount of tension you will hear some pins dropping as you slowly and gently release the tension from the tension wrench.
If you hear a few pins drop you are on the right track, keep trying with similar tension.