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Posted on 17 Oct 2008

I've been a professional Locksmith for long enough that i've seen many a 'new tool' come along that turns out to be a dressed up 'old' tool, so I was a bit cautious when I saw that one of the newer tool manufacturers had announced a device that i've wished for for many a year.& 160;

The company doing the announcing was Brockhage, a division of LogicAmerica, which has been selling some pretty darned good stuff at very reasonable prices.& 160; The tool was a new version of one of the oldest locksmith tools around, the venerable pick gun.& 160; A pick gun, for those who are outside the Industry, is a device that incorporates the percussion principle of lock picking into a gun-shaped tool that, when mastered by a skilled technician, can effectively defeat most any pin tumbler lock cylinder with relative ease.& 160; The problem with pick guns, up to now, has been that they're useful only for locks that have keyways in the standard vertical orientation . . . and even then the lock cylinder must be installed correctly so that the bottom of the keyway is at six O'Clock instead of at twelve -- which would be upside-down.& 160; When the keyway is in any other orientation the pick gun loses much of its usefulness because one would have to hold it in an very uncomfortable position while using it.& 160; Try turning a hand gun upside down next time you're at the firing range and see how difficult it's just to pull the trigger, let alone retain any vestige of accuracy.

The Brockhage BPG-15 was advertised as a 'downward striking' pick gun.& 160; What a novel, yet ridiculously obvious, improvement!& 160; Right Away this inspired all sorts of fantasies in my head about having less trouble next time I encountered a lock that had been installed upside down, or one of the European locks that are now popular in wrought iron security doors with their upside-down keyways.& 160; I just had to order one for myself and try it out.

As is also true of many professional Locksmiths, I put the tool apart the minute I received it because I was just too busy doing other things to test it out.& 160; i've to admit that I began marketing it on my own web site just on the weight of my familiarity with the Brockhage name without having put it through its paces.& 160; It began selling right away, and I took from that fact the notion that it must be filling the need adequately or I would& 160;be hearing about it from disgruntled customers.

It wasn't until last month, when I found myself on a real world lockout call in which I was facing a sideways-oriented keyway, that I had occasion to pull out my personal BPG-15 and give it a try.& 160; I was quite frankly astounded at how easy this tool made the job.& 160; I had the lockout serviced in record time, when compared with what I realistically expected based on past experience with other tools.& 160;

It's refreshing to find a new tool that so perfectly solves& 160;such an& 160;historically stubborn problem.& 160;& 160; I heartily advise every professional Locksmith and Lockout Specialist to add this tool to their arsenal.

George Robertson, licensed certified Professional Locksmith since 1983.

http://www.LockPickersMall.com

Be sure to go to my web site for best quality and best prices on professional locksmith tools, special lock picking training aids, and complete lock picking starter kits! LockPickersMall specializes in helping the beginner and the hobbyist.