Alfred Charles Hobbs (1812 – 1891) was an American locksmith and inventor. His most notable achievment was picking the Bramah and Chubb locks at the Great Exhibition of 1851. His ability to pick these locks changed how the world viewed the security of locks and safes, leading to the many improvements in the construction and design of locks throughout the 19th and 20th century. Hobbs also made many improvements in the field of ammunition manufacturing later in his life.

Linus Yale, Jr. (04 April 1821, 25 December 1868) was an American inventor and manufacturer of locks. His most famous inventions are the modern rotary combination lock and modifications to his father’s pin-tumbler lock mechanism, currently one of the most popular lock designs worldwide.

Tryout keys- are a lockpicking tool used to exploit poor tolerances in locks. A collection of keys with custom depth and spacing patterns is produced to manipulate internal components to various positions. In some cases they are capable of rapidly brute-forcing all keying depths for the lock. Because tryout keys are used as normal keys they are generally considered a form of surreptitious entry.

This technique is made possible by a low number of real key differs as a result of poor manufacturing tolerances or key specifications.

A pick gun (or snapper pick, snap gun, vibration pick, electric pick) is a lockpicking tool used to rapidly open pin-tumbler based locks. Pick guns are manual or electric, and are a common tool for locksmiths. The use of pick guns is classified as covert entry because they leave distinct forensic evidence. Pick guns are similar in function to bump keys. The pick gun needle is inserted into the keyway below the bottom pins and a tension tool is used to apply light tension to the plug. The trigger of the gun is fired, causing the needle to impact all pin stacks simultaneously. The kinetic energy travels to the top pins, causing them to jump. If all top pins jump above the shear-line, the plug will be free to rotate. Pick guns often require several attempts to pick the lock, but are effective against most low to mid security pin-tumbler locks.

Electric pick guns use a motor or electromagnet to continuously oscillate the needle. The needle is placed under all pins and vibrates, hoping to vibrate at a resonating frequency that will cause all top pins to jump above the shear line, allowing the plug to turn. The resonating frequency is an important feature in electric pick guns, but few actually allow this to be controlled directly. Most products advise the user to turn the tool off and on repeatedly to vary the motor speed.

Electric pick guns leave a much greater amount of forensic evidence than manual pick guns because of their constant movement when inside the lock.

Due to the high cost of electric pick guns, many low-cost homemade alternatives exist. Most modify a device to include the use of a needle on an existing motor or electromagnet. Products include eletric toothbrushes, scissors, and screwdrivers.