Cracking a master lock is not easy. I would rather hire locksmith Austin to do it rather than try it myself.

First things first, this may not work with locks that do not have serial numbers, and this method does not work on all locks. There are those that have problems, such as the shackles not turning properly when raised.

The first step is to turn the lock’s dial to the right, to zero. To keep things safe, turn it at a minimum of three or four rotations.

Lock it down, to see if the shackle is somehow locked to something hard or solid – Apply force and turn the dial gently and as slowly as you can. If it can’t be turned, release the shackle and turn it clockwise twice, then do it again.

Find the first sticking point. As you go on with turning the dial to the right or clockwise, eventually, the dial won’t turn anymore. Take note of when it stops. Sometimes, they may stop after one full turn while sometimes they may not, as to why, if they don’t, record the number to half.

  • Apply force to the shackle, and turn the dial counter-clockwise as far and as much as you can. Take note again of where and when it stops, and you’ll have your sticking range.
  • Check the middle number of your sticking range, and you’ll have your sticking point. Example, if you have a range of 4 and 5, you’ll get a sticking point of 4.5, and if you have a range of 10 and 20, you’ll get 15.

Slowly, release your tension from the shackle and turn the dial slowly past the sticking point – Turn it clockwise again once to move away from that sticking point.

Release shackle tension and turn the dial slightly past the sticking point. Turn the dial clockwise about one number from the sticking point in order to allow you to “escape” that sticking point.

Reapply tension again, and resume turning the dial to the right and take note of all the sticking points. – You’ll find about twelve sticking points at most. Take note of them.

I am sure at this point I would have given up and called locksmith Austin TX

Find the third number of the combination.

  • Look at the list you’ve compiled, and remove from the list all those that are not whole numbers. You’ll end up with about 5 numbers.
  • Out of the remaining numbers, choose the only one that has the unique digit located in the “ones position. Most of the time, only one will have the unique digit out of the four remaining numbers. Example, if your numbers are 2, 12, 22, 25, and 32, and you can clearly see that 25 is the only number that doesn’t have two located in the “ones”. This will be your third number.
  • Find the magic number. Divide the third number by four, and write down the remainder. So, 25/4 = 6 remainder 1. Take note of the remainder, and the remainder alone. Write this down.

Looking for the Possible First Numbers – Add 4 to the remainder, which is 1, and write down the result. Now add 4 again, and again, until you have completed revolving the dial once. Write down each number you added four, so, for 1, you’ll have 1,5,9,13,17,21,25,29,33 and 37. Only one of them will be the first number of the combination.

Looking for the Possible Second Numbers – Get the remainder, or the so-called magic number. If it is either 0 or 1, then add 2 to it, if not, subtract two. In our example, our number is 1, we add 2 and we get 3. Write it down and again, add 4 to it. Just like what you did with the first numbers, add 4 until you have completed revolved around the dial once. Write the numbers down again, so, you’ll be getting, 3,7,11,15,19,23,27,31,35,39.

Cross out the numbers from the possible 2nd numbers, add or minus 2 from the third number of the combination. Example, 27 & 31, the third number will be 29.

Do some trial and errors – Now that you have list of both possible first and second numbers and the third number, you have now successfully reduced the estimated 64,000 combinations to a mere 80. Try each and every combination until you are correct. It all comes to luck to this, and sometimes, you may need to try out all the combinations.

Good luck in your efforts. If it is too hard you can call Austin locksmith