Pick Guns: Lock Picking For Spies, Cops, And Locksmiths (Paperback)

~ John Minnery (Author) "The modern pin-tumbler lock can trace its origins back to the Temple of Karnak in ancient Egypt..." (more)
Key Phrases: lock tumbler pins, oscillator rod, shoe whereby, Linus Yale, Specification of Letters Patent, Spring Pick Gun (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book tells how pick guns work and how to use them and traces their development from their inception to the revolutionary devices of today. Included are the original patents by Epstein, Segal, Moore, Cooke and others, as well as info on pick guns used by the FBI and intelligence agencies. Photos depict improvised devices made out of coat hangers and clothespins. For academic study only.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (May 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0873645103
• ISBN-13: 978-0873645102
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,005,664 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Really for Spies, Cops, and Locksmiths, August 16, 2004

By	Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

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John Minnery has written something of a standard book on the subject of (lock)pick guns. If one surfs the interent for this subject, most often one will find this book and no other. But the book is not all that much about techniques. Rather most of the book, though not all, is descriptions of some of the various pick guns that have been made.

Minnery's pick gun made from a coat hanger caught my attention. It's easy to make and I think it works better than the standard mechanical pick gun offered by Southhord and others. Also the pick gun made from a Dremel jigsaw tool caught my interest. Something that Minnery does not mention is making a pick gun out of a non-oscillating electric toothbrush.

I know a locksmith that keeps a pick gun on a charger in his service truck. And I know one who told me he used one so seldom that he wasn't sure if the charger worked. They are not a guarantee that one will be able to pick a lock. So much of this depends on practice.