Beginner lock picking advice

[Eschatos]

Hey everyone,

I am a college student planning a career in law enforcement/ military service. I am currently working as a 'helper' in my University locksmith department, but I don't have much access to the locksmiths.

I've been picking, raking, and most of all scanning these forums for well over a month and a half, and I think I've progressed fairly well considering the poor availability of locks where I live. I got my first small SouthOrd pick set a few weeks before Christmas 2004, and I've since been picking anything I could get my hands on. So far, I've managed to successfully pick the following locks:

Master No. 5 (2 differently keyed ones)
Master No. 3 (3 differently keyed ones)
Master "Covered Brass" lock
Master No. 1 lock
Brinks warded lock
Sentry 1100 Safe (3 pins I think)
Sentry 1110 Safe (3 pins with side wards)
CCL Huski 66 Series (6 differently keyed ones)
Cut away 5 pin door lock purchased from lockpickshop.com

As you can see, I haven't deviated much from the regular padlock formula for beginners. Recently, however, I came across a few locks that, no matter the technique, I couldn't pick. They were the following:

American Series 700 padlock
Master No. 532 (Large, heavy, chrome padlock)
ANY of four Master No. 4 locks (tiny ones)
Basically any door lock currently in service

I noticed that, when I systematically pick every pin up one by one, it takes me quite a while even to pick the simple master locks (other than the ones I have memorized). I usually get frustrated and give the pins a rake with whatever pick I'm using, which tends to open them up quite fast (Especially the CCL Huski locks). Any suggestions on how I may be able to open the Master No. 4 locks or the others? Suggested lubricants for old locks? I am comfortable using a number of picks in the set, including the diamond picks, the ball and double ball, and the C rake. Please post any suggestions you may have to better my skills, and thank you for reading!

[Kigga]

those american series suck..i have a hard time opening them to.

With the master locks if you put to much tension or to less tension the pins won't set, so when your picking pins one by one try different amounts of tension and see what the results are.

[specialist]

Try using Kwikset locks for practicing on door locks. They are fairly simplistic, and easy to learn from. Most of all, PRACTICE. Good Luck.

[Eschatos]

Thanks!

Between the time I posted and your reply, I managed to pop open my Master No. 532. Turns out the difficulty I was facing was a result of FIVE pins, as opposed to the four I've been used to picking in Master locks. Also, the keyway is quite narrow and doesn't leave much room for both a tension wrench and my pick. I ended up just using my C rake in a variety of positions, and sure enough I got it.

Now time for the last lock I have that I can't pop open. That American looks really gunky and the pins stick as I push them up. I can see some long nights of picking and cleaning ahead of me!

[Jon The Buddha]

Howdy Eschatos. I'm new to this myself. I know a lot of people recommend Kwikset for learning doorknob/deadbolt picking, but I picked up a brand from Lowe's Home Improvement called Protecto that I really like. I got a doorknob and a deadbolt for about $16. They have plain pins in them so no worries about mushroom's or sereated, etc. I bought them because I thought it was some cheap knock-off, but turns out they are made by Black & Decker (not that B&D are known for their locks, it just suprised me ).

The cool thing about the deadbolt is that the pins are REALLY EASY to get at and remove, so you can take out a few and practice. Then add back a pin at a time untill you can get them all! As for the doorknob one, I pulled off a closet doorknob and put the Protecto on in it's place. Works way better than finding a piece of board to put it on! Can't figure out how to get the pins out of it, though.

Give them a try, if you have access to a Lowes. Good Luck!

[Chucklz]

Black and Decker owns both Weiser and Kwikset.

[Jon The Buddha]

Black and Decker owns both Weiser and Kwikset

Shows what a noob I am, huh?

Thanks Chucklz, I did not know that. Obviously I am very new to this. Now, which pick is best for getting my foot out of my mouth!

[randmguy]

I would recommend the Brinks KW1 rekeyable padlock to anyone starting out. They're less than $15 US at Wal-Mart. They are portable and easy to tear down and repin. They come with decent instructions, a small selection of pins and a key gauge. I believe they come with 3 spool pins installed that you can replace until you feel confident enough to have a go at them.


American padlocks are not locks for a beginner. They come with serrated pins that are a pain to work with. The keyway is tight enough to give you real problems also. HeadHunterCEO gave an awesome tip awhile back on using WD-40. You saturate the keyway with WD-40 before you pick and it seems to fill in the serrations and make these locks much easier to pick.

[fugi]

yea I just got one of those brinks locks from wal-mart this weekend, mine is a SC1 keyway though. came with the gauge and a pack of color coded pins. great lock for playing with. I rekeyed it to the key to my office because it was the only sc1 key I have. I think it was like $12 there.

it only has 3 spools in it? it said spools on the back of the package so I assumed they were all spool. I should check that out.

what other types of pins does brinks use in their locks? I was looking at the back of one package, it was a shrouded shackle padlock, said it has proprietary security pins, didn't specify spool mushroom or serrated. it was rekeyable too.

[zeke79]

they look rekeyable but they are not(the brinks shrouded). They use a 6 pin am1 keyway with atleast 3 top spools and 3 bottom serrated pins. they are a good lock to mess around with.

[fugi]

glad I didn't get it then, the one I got was cheaper. I just rekeyed it again to my old apartment key, can't get it yet, has a deep pin in the middle that's hard to get around, plus the wards on this suck.

[Crypto]

Thanks for all the information. I'm going out to lowes and walmart to buy some starter locks now. Thanks

[busa20]

hey all i'm new here and i was wondering if a dental pick would work to start untill i can get a set of pick. i have tried to find an answer but can't seem to find it any help would be appreciated ty
Busa20

[stick]

If you search dental pick, you'll find a lot of posts about HPC's line of dental picks, which are supposed to be high quality, professional looking, overall great picks, priced to hell. If your dental pick (and I'm assuming you mean one actual dentists use) is strong enough and long enough, it'll work, although most of the dental picks I've seen have been faaar too short to reach beyond the first pin.