Sparrows Double Tap

[Silverado]

I'm curious if anyone has had the opportunity to play with the Sparrows double tap pick gun?
The concept is interesting in that they say you can have it click once or twice based on trigger travel. They also claim that the action of the needle is truly vertical instead of the typical sweeping motion you'd get from a different pick gun.

I would like to step into the world of pick guns at some point.

[Squelchtone]

So I played with this at Defcon and was really impressed with the mechanism in that it really does move the needle straight up like a truck lift gate goes smoothly up and down and parallel to the ground. Someone let me hold it for a minute so I didn't get to play with the double tap feature. It's nice to see some innovation though, the classic pick gun has been around since like what? 1925?

Squelchtone

[Silverado]

No idea how long they've been around but I agree. I had read somewhere that they were created for Law Enforcement so they didn't have to spend a lot of time learning to pick locks yet the pick gun was still kind of tricky to master. Seems like a catch 22 to me. However, considering that the tricky part is keeping the device in such an orientation to make sure the needle strikes all the pins horizontally, this innovation ought to make the entire process much easier!

I suppose I need to start saving pennies. If I buy a pick gun it might as well be the Double Tap.

[RumballSolutions]

Dino lock tools released pretty much the same tool here in Australia about 3 years ago. It's still for sale and comes in a horrible orangey-red colour (makes it easier to find I guess?).

I used an employers one on lockouts for about a two weeks and decided to go back to my regular old lockaid life or my Klom electric. Employer was not surprised, 3 other locksmiths at the business had tried the double tap and went back to a traditional gun.

In all honesty, I can't say for sure if it was the tool or just being used to traditional style guns. I'm consistently fairly successful with a regular gun, the double strike and straight up motion just didn't seem to impart the same momentum.

Horses for courses I guess.

[TorontoGuy]

I received mine only this morning and so I haven't had a lot of time to play with it other than opening a few of the simple key in knob doors I have around the house.
It worked reasonably quickly.
It comes in a very nice Sparrows hard shell case with 3 twist tension wrenches in 3 widths; 3 double ended wrenches (also 3 widths); 3 short needles; 1 long needle and 1 offset needle.
The gun itself has excellent fit and finish and, yes, the needle does travel straight up and down. The first click happens with a half pull of the trigger and the second click comes when the trigger is pulled fully.
Needles are easily inserted into the gun and do not need tools to tighten thanks to a generous thumb screw.
Like I said, there is not much I can tell you right now since I have only had it in my hands for less than 8 hours but I will answer any questions to the best of my ability.

TG

[WillAnderson]

I'm a fireman and Have been trying to teach some of the guys at the FD how to pick. Ive used a cheap Snapper off of DX.com for years and it works great on the Kwikset and lower end Schalge locks. Does the extra snap help?

[TorontoGuy]

The double snap does help but, in order to get the double snap, you have to release the trigger fully. Most of the time, when you are snapping quickly, you don't fully let go and so you get only one snap. I am sure that with practice, I would get better at gettting both snaps to happen.

TG

[tpark]

I'm curious if anyone has had the opportunity to play with the Sparrows double tap pick gun?
The concept is interesting in that they say you can have it click once or twice based on trigger travel. They also claim that the action of the needle is truly vertical instead of the typical sweeping motion you'd get from a different pick gun.

I would like to step into the world of pick guns at some point.

It seems like a great idea, but I don't know if it's really any better than my old lockaid gun - maybe it takes some practice to get the most out of it. The lockaid needle definitely moves in an arc vs. the Sparrows where the needle really does move straight up and down.

[drumnut01]

Lockpicks.com sells the same thing under a different name and I bought one. It's the only snap gun I've used, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm not impressed. I can open the same locks much more reliably with a triple peak.

[PickInHand]

I have what appears to be the identical snap-gun, but in a brown version with the logo of the "Locksmithing Institute of Hong Kong" on it. (I live in Hong Kong, and am a member of that organization.)
I suspect the manufacturer is willing to OEM this tool for various entities to sell.

Recently, I had the opportunity to compare its performance on a variety of locks with those of a cheep Chinese one, and an expensive and well-modded professional one on a variety of locks.
(Unfortunately I don't recall the brand.)

Of course, ALL pick guns require a certain level of training, practice, and technique, but since I (the same person) was using them all, that factor can be ignored.

If I had to rank them, the expensive, custom-modded gun was clearly the best. I opened the most locks the fastest, using it. If I call that the 100-percent standard, I'd say the double-tap one was about 80-90 percent as good, and the Chinese cheapie around 40 percent.

The Chinese cheapie required more than twice the time to open a lock, if it opened one at all. Its harsher action was more likely to damage locks. won't spend much time with it. The double-tap was almost as good as the best one, but still not quite as fast/successful.

I should point out that the first two were set at their absolute weakest spring setting for the test, but the modded version was still a bit softer.

I decided to be happy with the double-tap version for the time being, and invest my money in other types of tools, before eventually upgrading whenever my double-tap one breaks [or I'm fully-satisfied with the rest of my tool kit, or I win the lottery, whichever comes first... (grin).]

The professional version costs nearly three times as much (at the price I paid for the double-tap; Sparrows may charge more?), so I consider the double-tap one good value-for-money, and "good enough" for the use I have for it at present.

For another professional who relies more on snap-guns and wants the absolute fastest opening times, maybe the upgrade is worthwhile; for me, it can wait. Of course, a pure hobbyist may not need a gun at all, and can buy whatever his/her budget and inclination allows.

[jimu57]

Made in China. The same thing sold under different names. I have one. It works fine. Nothing special.about the double click.