How to lock pick a master lock

The Master lock is one of the most common padlock designs out there. This means that if you can learn how to pick a Master lock, you can open a huge variety of padlocks that you’ll encounter in the field. The best way to open a Master lock is with a bypass tool, as you can pick Master locks left and right with the proper device. Bypass tools give you an incredible feeling of satisfaction. When a tool works much like a key - but a key for all the locks - you know you're onto a winner. See a Master Padlock, laugh at Master Padlock.

Table of Contents Show

Lock Picking Master Locks Made Easy
Cracking the 3rd Number of the Combination
Step 1: Find the First Number of the Group
Step 2: Find the Second Number of the Group
Step 3: Repeat Until All Numbers Are Found in This Group
Step 4: Find the Odd Number Out
Cracking the 1st Number of the Combination
Step 5: Divide the 3rd Number by 4
Step 6: Note the Remainder
Step 7: Add 4s to the Remainder
Cracking the 2nd Number of the Combination
Step 8: Use the Same Remainder
Step 9: Find the First Number of This Group
Step 10: Add 4s Again
Cracking the Full Combination
Step 11: Try the 1st Number Clockwise
Step 12: Try the 2nd Number Counterclockwise
Step 13: Use the 3rd Number Clockwise
Step 14: Repeat

Our Works on Master Padlocks #1, #2, #3, #4 - which makes up the most widely used Master Padlocks out there. With a bit of fiddling about, sometimes #5 and #6 can also be opened.

Lock Picking Master Locks Made Easy

The first time we watched these almost magic lock pick set in action, we thought it was magic. Each set comes with two picks, each of which gets inserted one after the other, with the first at the top of the keyway near the pins. This isn’t single-pin picking, though; that pick goes deep inside the keyway, past the last pin in the lock!

The second pick is inserted at the bottom of the keyway of the lock where a tension wrench is usually placed, but it’s not used as a tension wrench - instead, you just wiggle the two picks in concert, almost like you would if you were going to rake the lock, and the shackle pops open.

It’s not magic, of course. The top pick bypasses the pins in an ingenious way that, when combined with the bottom pick, makes picking Master locks easy as pie - no single-pin picking here! This takes practice, of course, so don’t feel bad if the first time you try it in a Master lock of your own you’re not successful.

Video guides make bypassing pins on locks look easy, after all, even when the truth is that bypassing padlocks like this isn’t. Once you learn how to use this lock bypass tool, though, there’s no lock in the world that can hold you back!

Lock picking is a great skill that takes lots of practice and patience to master, but some locks simply can't be picked, like a Master Lock combination padlock. With a combination lock, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way—cracking combinations.

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If you were to try and crack the combination dial to a Master Lock by simply trying different combinations, it would take approximately 177 hours (without sleeping or eating) to solve the combination.

This trick shows you how to crack combo locks down from 64,000 possible combinations to only 100 possibilities in a fraction of the time. If you're not good with numbers and math, specifically division, then you may have difficulty with this technique.

Cracking the 3rd Number of the Combination

It sounds a little backwards, but first you need to find the last number of the combination, which is the only part of this guide where you'll actually know the exact number of a combination. The other two numbers will have groups of possibles.

Step 1: Find the First Number of the Group

Start your dial on 0.
Pull up hard on the shackle and hold.

Turn the dial counterclockwise.
It will stop in-between two positions, in this case, 1.5 and 2.5.

Use the number in-between those positions and record it.
In this case, it's 2.

Step 2: Find the Second Number of the Group

Loosen the shackle a bit and turn the dial counterclockwise until you just pass the first group of numbers, in this case 2.5.
Then pull and hold the shackle again and continue turning the dial.
Again, it will stop in-between two positions, in this case 5 and 6.

Use the number in-between those positions and record it.
In this case, it's 5.5.

Step 3: Repeat Until All Numbers Are Found in This Group

Repeat this process in the counterclockwise direction until you reach the end of the dial and have 12 numbers recorded.

In our case, these numbers are 2, 5.5, 8.5, 12, 15.5, 18.5, 22, 25.5, 28.5, 32, 35.5, 39.

Step 4: Find the Odd Number Out

There are 5 whole numbers and 7 fractions.
Disregard the fractions and concentrate on the wholes.
So, we now have 2, 12, 22, 32, 39.
They all end it 2s, so look for the odd one out, which is 39 here.
This is the 3rd number to the combo.

Cracking the 1st Number of the Combination

Now we can start working on the first possible number of the combination.

Step 5: Divide the 3rd Number by 4

Divide the 3rd number of the combination we discovered back in Step 4 by 4.
In this case, it's 39 ÷ 4 = 9.3.

Step 6: Note the Remainder

The important part of the number we just figured out is the remainder.
In this case, it's 3.

Step 7: Add 4s to the Remainder

You'll want to add 4 to the remainder, and keep adding 4 until you reach the highest possible number on the dial.
In our case, it would be 3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39.

These 10 numbers will be your possible number for the 1st number of the combo.

Cracking the 2nd Number of the Combination

Now we can start cracking the 2nd number of the combo.

Step 8: Use the Same Remainder

Now, we need to use the remainder again from the last few steps.
In our case, it's 3.
However, it will be different for you. When you divide a number by 4, you'll get a remainder of either 0, 1, 2, or 3, and you'll use the key below to determine which number will be your starting point for the next group of possible numbers.

Step 9: Find the First Number of This Group

0 = 2
1 = 3
2 - 0
3 = 1

So, in our case, we start with 1.

Step 10: Add 4s Again

Now, take this number and add 4 and keep doing so until you get to the highest possible number on the dial.
In our case, we have 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37.

These 10 numbers will be your possible number for the 2nd number of the combo.

Cracking the Full Combination

Now you have a group of 10 possible numbers for the first part of the combo, a group of 10 possible numbers for the second part of the combo, and your third number of the combo. This is what ours looks like:

3, 7, 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 39
1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37
39

Now, just try them all out. We'll start with 3, 1, 39.

Step 11: Try the 1st Number Clockwise

First, clear the Master Lock by turning the dial multiples times clockwise.
Then head to your first number you're trying going clockwise.
In our case, it's 3.

Step 12: Try the 2nd Number Counterclockwise

Then turn it counterclockwise past the second number you're trying, and rotate the dial until you reach that number again and land on it.
So, in our case, we pass 1 once, then land on 1 the second time.

Step 13: Use the 3rd Number Clockwise

Then turn clockwise to the last number.
In our case, 39.

Step 14: Repeat

Now, all you have to do is keep trying all of the possible combinations from your groups of numbers until you found the right one.
Ours eventually ended up being 19, 33, 39.

Success!

How did this method work for you? If you're looking for a more forceful way of breaking into a Master Lock combination padlock, you can try using a beer can shimmy or drilling a hole in it, but if you like math, the above method works just fine.

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