"Set U.S." Padlocks

[SightlessSenshi]

So I have this lock, a padlock with a little length of chain attached to it by a steel cuff affixed to one side of the shackle. The lock says American Lock Company, U.S.A., and on its other side, it says "Set U.S." Now, I know American Locks are going to be tough to pick, and that's all well and good—although I've also heard they're susceptible to a rather easy bypass—but I'm mostly interested in those last words on it: "Set U.S." I've also seen several Waterbury locks with the same phrase, and those were said to be used by the military, as was this American Lock, if I understand things correctly. So what does that phrase mean? Is it simply letting us know it was made here? If so, why don't all old American Locks say the same? Also, can I use that phrase to estimate the lock's age? Thanks for any help you can give.

[billdeserthills]

You are gonna need a picture of the lock and a close-up of it's key hole in order for anyone
to help you. The problem is American Lock makes more than just one kind of padlock

[Big Jesse]

To my knowledge "Set U.S." is the stamp given to all military padlocks, so padlocks specifically made to order for the U.S. Military. I used to collect them when I was in the Marine Corps, and stationed in Camp Pendleton. Master Lock does the same thing. It will say Set U.S. on one side, and DG on the other. The DG stamp is to designate that it has a hardened steel shackle, hardened steel laminate body, and security pins added to normal line up. As for American locks, its something similar but all american locks have security pins, top and bottom so they are not very different, but a lot of the American Locks on military bases were laminated and not aluminum bodied. I dont remember if there is a stamp of numbers/letters on the laminated bodied padlocks but the alluminum ones have 4 letters/numbers stamped on one side of the lock, and that can tell you when it was made. Youll have to decode those symbols online.

As for picking,
10 years ago American locks were considered Intermediate level, but now in 2017 they are more considered Beginner level, they are highly recommended for choosing as your first security pinned pad lock to pick, specifically the Series 1105, so don't give them too much avoidance as they really aren't that hard to pick once you get the hang of it, if you check out my youtube channel you find videos of me picking the American Barrel Lock, Series 30, Series 1105, 1205, and 1305. All in under 3 minutes each.k

Hope that helps.

[GWiens2001]

Not all the military American 5200 locks have security pins top and bottom. Now they mostly have just one BumpStop top pin, and all the other pins are plain.

You can see the differences in this thread.

Gordon

[gumptrick]

Not all the military American 5200 locks have security pins top and bottom. Now they mostly have just one BumpStop top pin, and all the other pins are plain.

You can see the differences in this thread.

Gordon

That's what I've seen with the new production Americans as well. But it's entirely possible--even probable, I would argue--that SightlessSenshi has an older model. I see a LOT of used Military marked padlocks on Ebay and I doubt they are all new production. I picked up a few a couple months ago (some brass, some steel bodied) and they are all the older American configuration with serrated pins.


To add to what Big Jesse said, they are pretty good locks for learning security pins. Though I do think that the Master 140 (4-pin) and the 150 (5-pin) are a better first step. However this applies to the original brass design. One of our members recently found out that the new aluminum-bodied 140s lack security pins!