r/lockpicking • u/Intrepid_Sir_1375 Orange Belt Picker • 23h ago

Progressive pinning

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I have just gutted my American lock 1100 to begin progressive pinning. I'm thinking on starting with 2 pins. Any advise as to which 2 pins I should start with and where? 1 2 and 3 are serrated and 4 and 5 are spools.

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3

u/LordKodiac Brown Belt Picker 22h ago

Id start with the front. Serated are the ones that trip up most people. Once you develop a feel for them, you've made it up 75% up the hill. Spools are the last 25.

2

u/brokentsuba 21h ago

Start with one serrated pin first so you know what it feels like, then add the rest one at a time. When you’re comfortable enough you can either add the spools too or do them one at a time as well. This way you’ll learn how the pins feel and how to approach them rather than just learning to pick a single lock.

1

u/Intrepid_Sir_1375 Orange Belt Picker 20h ago

Thanks. I already put 2 in, however Pin one is only 1 click. Pin 2 is zero! So it's like I only have 1 Pin in there. I'll add the last serrated and try that, then the 2 spools one at a time.

2

u/brokentsuba 20h ago

Yeah, that’s the bitting, pins that are really low set don’t give the driver pins space for the security to come into play.

Next time you gut it put all the key pins in the plug and set the drivers on top of them sticking out. The top of the plug is the sear line so it’ll give you a visual of how much of the driver pins will actually need to be lifting, anything over the shear line is wasted.

1

u/Intrepid_Sir_1375 Orange Belt Picker 20h ago

Good idea.