Resettable Brass Master Lock

[phonetrips]

Hey guys & gals I have done a significant amount of searching (about 2 months now) on the Internet for information regarding the master lock known as "Resettable Brass " its a combonation lock, its got 4 individual dials, im curiouse to hear from those of you who might have any informtion on this lock. I'm a pretty resourcefull person when it comes to searching the internet and doing my "homework" on things, but guys..... this ones a short road with a dead end. I really do a lot of checking up on forums, this is my first post. I tend to read "search google".... i really did... lol LOTS! and then some, i chose to post with this community because of its "to the point" and mature nature. sorry about the rambling on here guys...lol its late but if any one has any information or any suggestions to get me off in atleast the right direction here I'd greatly appreciatte it. thanks.

[Mad Mick]

If you are referring to the lock I'm thinking of, this is a brass bodied lock of around 2" X 1" X 3/8". There are four wheels numbered from 0 to 9. The shackle is around 1/4" wire diameter....

This is a pretty simple combo lock...without giving too much away, you have to pull on the shackle whilst turning the dials. Feel where the dials become stiff...e.g. if a dial becomes stiff on No's 1, 3, and 5, choose the middle number (dials usually become stiff at two numbers from the correct one). Repeat for other dials.

HTH.

[phonetrips]

Mad Mick i really appreciate reading from you. I actually appreciate you not giving away an answer to opening this lock as i will achieve a greater feeling of acomplishment but about the feeling technique ive spent time trying to understand what i could about the lock, " feeling the dials" was an atempt i made but the lock has taken a lickin from the weather theres minor rust, the dials arent all to smooth and some numbers on the dials are dirty as some are cleaner. Thanks for the start mick its an encourgement

[cracksman]

Ptrips, I have no skill at safe, combo manipulation but I'm still going to throw in my two cents. I had a student who put a cheap No. 1 masterlock on his locker, and he lost the key. It turns out he took it off his parents shed and it had been out there in the elements for awhile (his parents didn't know he removed it and he was afraid to get in trouble). Well, of course I told him to go to class and I would take it off this once, but never to do that again. Hehe, I was psyched to be able to have a pressure situation to pick the lock before my next class started- in like 5 minutes. I would have sworn I picked that thing 5 times and 5 minutes but the plug wouldn't turn Finally I said to myself, I know it doesn't have security pins, it's picked, I know it... grabbed a flat head screwdriver, sure enough...pop. Needless to say I am the koolest teacher

My point is this, I wanted to tell a funny story.

My other point is, if you want to learn the art of manipulation, I would suggest a nice clean lock for starters, a rusted combo lock my cause more problems and discourage you more.

Like I said, just my two cents, best of luck

[TOWCH]

Try soaking the lock in WD40 and working all moving parts while submerged. The lock should hopefully loosen up. If you can't manipulate the lock try shimming it. There's a guide on here somewhere if you look hard enough. I would suggest "master no. 175 shim" as search terms. There's also a destructive method that idiot proofs it further involving a drill. Happy searching.

[sublime progie]

if it is the lock i am thinking about (master 175 i believe), there is an exteamly easy trick to it that will take only a couple of seconds, but i wont tell it unless you want it since you seem to want to break the code.

[phonetrips]

Towch Im actually looking to defeat this thing, I'd much rather prefer a non destructive method such as cutting the shackle or anything but i'd be more then appreciative to hear any suggestions from people who know what there talking about, the lock its self isnt to weather beatin, things like slightly dirty dials and very minor superficial rust does exist but by no means greatly affect the functioning of this combo lock (that i can gather). After reading the reply about "feeling" the dials I made about an hours attempt on & off and still no go. I really wanted to try to get hints on beating this one but right now i'd love to hear any opinions from any one with a knowledge of combo master locks, after all there is more then one way to skin a cat, and it wouldnt hurt knowning other tactics that i could aply. sorry about the spelling guys once again its late, works taken its toll on me too!. Thanks guys, dont think your help goes unappreciated.

[TOWCH]

You can feel the flat spots on the wheels by slipping a thin piece of metal such as part of a soda can down the side. Once you've found all the flat spots, they will all be off by a certain number that I can't remember. From there, just rotate all the dials at once until you hit jackpot and the lock opens. The goal here is to find the flat spots which you can't see. If you could see them that would make it much easier. If you removed the brass between the wheels, you could see them. This is all from memory however as I've never done any of this. If you found where I got it with the search tool you could probably trust it's accuracy more.

[vector40]

Just out of curiosity, how do you "soak" something in WD-40?

[TOWCH]

An empty butter container, a strong finger, and a lot of patience. Multiple cans wouldn't hurt.

[phonetrips]

Towch BTW I Just recently did a search concerning feeling flat spots, and i read an article on a geocities hosted sitehttp://www.geocities.com/masterunlocked/ (hope that works) I'm gonna make an atempt on using this new knowledge to my benefit. I realize a simple search on google for "cracking master #175" is all that was needed, but i hope that link helps any one else interested in a #175 but before i didnt really know about the numerical classification such as #175 and that was a start really, so atleast i know which specific lock to read about....Any ways guys i'll try this tonight when i get off work, you guys are still more then welcomed to post, knowledge is power (and if this method doesnt work, i can plan an alternative). Thanks I'll keep you guys updated.

[wsbpress]

IMO the Master 175D should be recalled by Master in much the same way that Kryptonite replaced customers' locks because of the infamous bic pen bypass. There is a vulnerablility in the 175D where it can be opened with a normal half-hook or similar tool in literally 1-5 seconds. After showing a non-lockpicking friend this bypass he was able to open the lock, first try, in less than 20 seconds. I subscribe to the idea of full-disclosure in both software and hardware vulnerablilties. This lock needs a "patch". You can find a video somewhere on the web which demonstrates this vulnerablilty. I believe the person who made the video clip is a member of LP101. If I had the link I would post it for you, but you should be able to find it with no problem.

[TOWCH]

Could you describe it? I'm not familiar with this bypass.

[sublime progie]

push down the shackle on the lock. insert your feeler into the top of one of the combo wheels (i use the second one) Make sure the hook is facing in the Right direction. then push the handle into the left part of the lock so that you are making the hook come toward the dials. this pushes the shackle retainer down. then simply release the shackle and it will pop open.

[TOWCH]

Awesome. That's a time saver.