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.

One Response to “Pick Guns: Lock Picking For Spies, Cops, And Locksmiths”

1. Virgil Brown says:

   August 16, 2004 at 12:00 am

   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.