If you want to master a particular skill, whether it’s becoming a master cellist or a master locksmith, there’s only one thing you need to do: practice. We can’t help you become a professional musician, but we do know a thing or two about training locksmiths. Practice locks are the best way to learn how to pick locks. When it comes to lock picking, it is important to practice with a variety of tools and techniques. There are many tools that you can use to pick locks including snap guns, broken key extractors, and locksmith tool kits.

A practice lock is a great and fun way to learn new techniques of picking locks. Because different locks have different security features, you may need a variety of practice locks to master your craft. You can have an easy time with some locks while others may give you a hard time.

Here are several practice locks that can help you become a professional locksmith in no time.

Master Lock No. 3

This is the first lock you should start with when you want to learn how to pick locks. You can use snap guns or teach yourself how to pick the lock the old fashioned way. It has an open keyway, light spring-loaded core and a four pin core with four standard pins.

This lock has terrible tolerance, and it is has a poor design. If you use snap guns, you can destroy this lock easily, which makes it the best when you want to practice picking locks. The lock can be picked using almost any bypass method such as heavy tension, single pin picking, zipping, bitch picking, light tension and even shimming.

FJM Security Tubular Cam Lock

This is a cheap and standard tubular lock. If you have a tubular lockpick kit, then this is the best lock to practice picking locks. This lock does not have different spring pressures making it easy to pick. FJM security tubular cam lock is a standard seven-pin lock while other locks have six or eight pins. Therefore, you should make sure that your lock pick training kit has a tubular pick with seven pick wires.

Master Lock 528

This padlock is a bit different from Master Lock 3. It uses ball bearings. Therefore it cannot be shimmed. The lock type in this padlock is the simple dimple which makes it a great practice lock if you want to sharpen your skills in dimple picking.

If SPP frustrates you, you can always rake it open. It will be easy to open it, and you will get to experience different types of lock picking. Another advantage of this lock is that it will give you a chance to experiment with flag picks and other picks that you might have in your lock pick kit.

Master Lock 140

This lock has higher tolerance compared to the previous locks mentioned above. It also comes with added security pins. This lock has an open keyway light spring and a high tolerance. The lock also has a four pin core with one pin being the standard pin and three spool pins. This lock can be a problem for beginners, but it is an important practice tool that will give you an insight on how spool pins work and the feed the lock gives.

Brinks 40mm Brass Padlock

It has an open keyway whereby the core is spring loaded and a four pin core. It has three spool pins and one standard pin. The locking mechanism is similar to Master Lock 140, but it is of higher quality, and it is more tolerant. When picking this lock, the feedback you will get is amplified compared to Master Lock 140. The brinks is an important lock if you want to learn about spools as well as understanding the counter rotation and false sets.

ABUS 55/40

This is one of the most challenging locks to pick. It has four pin core and small open keyway. This lock has good tolerance and offers quite a challenge when picking it. This lock forces you to learn how to maneuver when you pick locks.

Using snap guns is an easy way to pick a lock, but the real fun lies in knowing how to do it using lock picking tools. You should strive to try to pick different locks. Do not train to pick a single lock exclusively.