Locks for beginner

[Slar]

Hi,

I am just starting my adventure with picking. I could not find anywhere any post about beginners locks. Maybe we could make a list of locks for beginners and stick it somewhere. What do you guys think?

Say for example Make model no. of pins etc.

I am actually in possession of master no3 but i think i have done something to it after intensive raking it. Have to pull a key out slightly to be able to turn it and i am not able to spp it or rake anymore. Maybe should i start with 1pin lock sort of a practice lock? Any suggestions and recommendations appreciated.

[Squelchtone]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

The question has been answered over the years but with so many threads, replies, and stickies, it does get hard to find things. I'm working on revamping the forum to give folks just starting out their own sub forum where there will be such stickies.

Until then, you can try to poke around the Search function some more. We are internationally known, so a list that works for someone in the US may have no relevance for someone in the UK or France or Australia. The brands and styles of lock vary greatly.

Here's a thread I dug up from someone else with a Master No.3, viewtopic.php?f=9&t=56573&p=411931 it has some options for natural progression that most locksport enthusiasts generally agree on.

Happy Picking,
Squelchtone

[cj101]

Hi,

just buy some cheap residential door lock (the cheapest or second cheapest) from your local hardware store - but no cheap padlocks. You normally get a lock, which can be picked open by beginners, but are not to easy and to crumbly like extremely cheap padlocks.

In Germany for example, you will find euro cylinder locks for 6 to 10 euro (approx. 8 to 13 dollar). These are of course no high quality or high security locks, but some of them will help you to learn lockpicking pretty fast.

I bought a cheap knockoff product from Abus (called Abus Buffo for just 6€). This lock has poor tolerances, but security pins (mushroom type). This helps a beginner a lot to understand the behaviour of such pins, as its behaviour exxagerated by the overall poor quality.

[Slar]

Hi,

Thanks for suggestion. I went to B&Q and got Master Excell for €18 security lever 8 came home with it and instead taking it out the packaging i decided to stick a pick in there. Bam after few sec it's open. Played with it for a while and i couldn't believe its so easy. My wife asked me to give it a shot she puts the pick upside down and bam open. Eventually i have locked it on the packaging and brought back to the shop for a refund as this lock would not teach me anything. Ended up buying master excel different type and have some good experience with it.

[sentientsentinel]

Try your local locksmith I picked up a schlage 5 pin and a kwikset knock off 5 pin cylinders for 20 bucks he said c'mon back when you need more of a challenge he said he would re pin them for me.

[nite0wl]

I am not familiar with most of the european locksport shops but a good starting point for anyone interested in lockpicking is a progressive lock set or a repinnable training lock. These are designed to help you get a feel for the basic techniques concepts of lockpicking. Once you get used to those at their most difficult level, move on to cheap residential locks from your local locksmith or hardware store. After that you can move on to higher quality stuff.