Electric lock picking gun

[ragebot]

I did a forum search using electric lock picking gun and all it turned up was stuff fairly old. I have seen several recent Youtube vids with what I will call $US150+ lock picking guns from guys I consider capable demonstrating how quickly these electric guns can open what I will call locks normally encountered. The Kronos seems to be a favorite and Southord is a respected company that makes one; not to mention guys are using electric toothbrushes for DIY ones. Truth be told my raking efforts have been much more reliable than using a J pick.

I am still at the stage where my tension skills are weaker than I would like and I have seen Youtube vids about circular tensioners. Again Southord has street cred and they make one. So I am thinking about getting a Southord electric gun and a Southord circular tensioner; but none of this is written in stone and I am open to other suggestions.

I do need to mention I am 77 and the VA just set up appointments for me to get operations on both hands to correct weak finger muscle issues and I also suffer from rheumatoid arthritis which limits me making big improvements to more conventional lock picking methods.

[sandman_locksport]

I think the fact that you are about to receive hand operations, and your age is 77, it sounds like you just want to hit the ground running with enjoying lockpicking and not caring about the pretentious attitude for single pin picking. that being said, I would like to recommend the following,
If you enjoy raking, keep raking, there are a few sporters around on YouTube that have picked hundreds of locks just raking, to prove a point, and to have fun with it. I would recommend you collect rakes of all shapes and sizes and metals. but if you want to get a jump start on things, 301 High Yield Stainless Steel is the strongest pick steel on the market, followed by 420SS, then 1095 high carbon, then 301 Full Hard. There are a few companies that make 301 High Yield stainless steel lock picks, 4 to be exact. Those are Covert Instruments (US), Law Lock Tools (UK), Bare Bones (Australia), and Jimy Longs (US). I would like to recommend their tools for rakes, as they take lock picking very seriously as a manufacturer. Bogota rakes, and anything designed by Christina Palmer such as the rakes from Covert Instruments, or the rakes from Multipick are the best around.
Those circular tensioners are not needed to use an electric pick gun. just bottom of keyway tension will be fine.
All electric pick guns are the same. I have the SouthOrd one, and Multipick will be sending me their Kronos soon for review on my YouTube channel, but your not really buying anything that is different. I feel that Multipick makes the Rolls Royce of tools, but the only difference between all of these electric pick guns is the cyclic rate, thats it. But I would rather have Multipick than anything else thats for sure. Buy what looks cool and is in your budget. Some people (like myself) enjoy buying the best high end tools and spending the extra money on something that is super nice.
For tension with an electric pick gun, you just need bottom of keyway tension, so any tensioner will do, and most of those electric pick guns will come with one. That being said, if Multipick sends me a circular tension tool with the Kronos, I will 100% use it because it is a really nice set up, but again, its not 100% needed.