Schlosser Technik have been expanding their range of locks and have recently released their TS007 3 Star lock - The Ultimate Pro 3 Star. I managed to pick one up from a locksmith in Brownhills over the weekend. I will be honest my first impressions weren't great, it felt ratchety and cheap in the hand, and overpriced at £20 (trade price). I have blogged in the past about the schlosser quality which is what you would expect of a budget anti snap lock.



So with an hour spare i thought I'd get it out and have a pick at it. Usually Schlosser Technik are a 30 second pick for a competent locksmith... I couldn't have been more wrong! Fifteen minutes in and I am now head scratching as this lock gives no feedback, it's awful. I gave up hand picking and gave the electric pick gun a blast, again to no avial. Passing the anti-pick test it now has my attention!

I decided that now it would be a good moment to vent my frustration and snap this lock apart to see how well it held up destructively. It was clear the cam had some sort of locking mechanism in it as the entire 6 pinstacks are removed when snapping. can't be too difficult now right?
Wrong again!



I must have spent the best part of an hour trying to fathom a non destructive operation of the cam, without success. Pushing it in, pulling it out, half dismantling from an outsiders point of view to find a bypass but still nothing. It would not play ball. Even breaking apart the remaining section of external lock body as you can with a garage door cylinder, you would still struggle to detatch the cam from the locked in clutch piece which is held in place by a 7th pin on the internal half of the lock. The only way to open this lock after snapping and without a load of drilling is via the key on the internal side which will release the clutch.

I spent some more time trying to pick that external half of the lock and eventually had to throw in the towel and see what had beaten me. I popped off the circlip and emptied the pin stacks. It contained 4 stainless mushroom driver pins and two pin-in-pin drivers, one which was free floating, the other sprung. A formidable setup for even the most accomplished lock picker.  I would be interested to know how the seasoned locksport pickers get on with this lock.

So my conclusion couldn't be further from my initial impressions of the Sclosser Technik Ultimate Pro 3 Star. It may not be constructed to the high tolerances we are used to seeing in the higher security locks but it will most definitely do it's job and prevent a lock snapping burglary. I have no doubt this will beat any burglar looking to gain entry. It's going to leave a few good locksmiths head scratching too if they try and snap this lock from the outside. Now that I know what I am up against I would leave a snapping/plug pulling attack right at the end on my list of options. Drilling the lock in the traditional sweet spot carefully may be the best DE technique for this particular lock as upsetting that clutch piece is going to make life hard.