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Finally manipulated a LaGard

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L4R3L2

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Location: Sutter County, CA

Post Sun Feb 03, 2019 11:01 pm

Finally manipulated a LaGard

LaGard 1548. A bit more difficult that I had imagined. Took a few hours. I don't see how I could have shortened my time without making assumptions, but if anyone has any shortcuts they can share, I'm all ears.

First ran AWL and AWR. Found two peaks about 30 to 40 apart, but no gates.

Started finding low areas on each wheel, dialing by tens, or down to 5 or 2 1/2 increments to find centers of low areas. Where low areas flattened, I took the center numbers.

Found lowest RCP readings at AWL @ 45.
Parked 1 & 2 @ 45L, ran 3AL (45L was lowest on 3)
(Yes, for finding lowest points I ran all the wheels the SAME direction. Left was giving the lowest readings on this lock. When searching for a gate, I ran the wheel in its normal dialing direction.)
1@45L / 2AL / 3@45L (60L lowest on 2)
45L / 60L / AL (30-50 lowest on 3, so took center of 40L)
AL / 60L / 40L (45 still lowest on 1)
45L / AL / 40L (90 now lowest on 2)
45L / 90L / AL (45 now lowest again on 3)

Going for the gates, by increments of 2, direction dependent on wheel...
AL / 90L / 45L (23L lowest area on 1, turned out to be the gate)
23L / AR / 45L FENCE DROPPED IN THE GATES AT 76. Wheel 3's gate turned out to be at 45.

23L / 76R / 45L - initial manipulated combination
22L / 76R / 46L - centered combination

Combination given with the lock as purchased was 26-80-50, clearly not the correct combination. And, no, I did not look at the combination before I manipulated the lock.

I'm going to mount a few 6730s to manipulate before I mount my next LaGard (3330). I can use a break!
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MartinHewitt

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 3:01 am

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

Great!

The reason for the different combination is probably just the mounting of the dial ring.
In case you wonder ... Martin Hewitt is a fictional detective in stories by Arthur Morrison:
Martin Hewitt, Investigator Chronicles of Martin Hewitt
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jharveee

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 7:20 am

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

Well written, I was able to follow your every move like I was there myself. Some times you just don't catch gates right away and are left to keep working down the low areas. As you did here, Well played!
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MartinHewitt

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:27 am

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

Btw. is the 1548 a new variant of the 3330?
In case you wonder ... Martin Hewitt is a fictional detective in stories by Arthur Morrison:
Martin Hewitt, Investigator Chronicles of Martin Hewitt
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tarboxb

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:10 pm

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

The 1548 is a crappy Chinese copy of the 3330 more or less. Much lower quality. I don't know how long they have been around but at least ten years or so.
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MartinHewitt

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:45 pm

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

Interesting. La Gard seems to be very attractive for copies. The M-Locks/NL-Locks/whatever KL3909 is a copy of the LG 2270 with some internal changes. The key looks really the same and is compatible, but on the bow is written "Intergard".

Does the 1548 have more often failures? Or is your opinion on the quality just based on how it looks?
In case you wonder ... Martin Hewitt is a fictional detective in stories by Arthur Morrison:
Martin Hewitt, Investigator Chronicles of Martin Hewitt
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tarboxb

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:49 pm

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

The 1548 is a "LaGard." It also says right on it Made in China. I have one I took out of a buddy's safe and replaced with a 6730. It looks crappy, yes. It is also the only fairly new group 2 I have ever attempted to manipulate that had so much error in the manufacturing of the wheel pack that the fence would drop right down on the wheels and prevent the lever nose from contacting the drive cam.
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MartinHewitt

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Post Mon Feb 04, 2019 6:02 pm

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

In case you wonder ... Martin Hewitt is a fictional detective in stories by Arthur Morrison:
Martin Hewitt, Investigator Chronicles of Martin Hewitt
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L4R3L2

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Post Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:56 am

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

I had heard that the 1548 was dropped by LaGard due to quality control problems. Mine seems really well made, but Chinese products tend to be hit or miss, and that's the problem. I have a Diebold on its way to me that looks exactly the same as this LaGard. Did LaGard and Diebold ever swap spit at some point?

Onme thing I found unusual about manipulating this LaGard, compared to an S&G, was that sometimes the reading would drop all of a sudden but stay dropped. Those drops were NOT gates. I attribute the drops to a wheel shifting on its center.

Also, I learned not to overshoot my numbers. The LaGard is less forgiving of resetting a wheel. If I was not able to counter-rotate a wheel WAY back before resetting it, the readings would shift.

Excellent point about the combination differing due to dial ring mounting variance. That gave me a 'why didn't I think of that' moment. You're absolutely correct. The numbers are all off by the same amount.
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L4R3L2

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Post Tue Feb 05, 2019 9:59 am

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

tarboxb wrote: It is also the only fairly new group 2 I have ever attempted to manipulate that had so much error in the manufacturing of the wheel pack that the fence would drop right down on the wheels and prevent the lever nose from contacting the drive cam.


I didn't feel mine riding any wheels, but the contact points were really faint in areas. If anything, it made this manipulation all that much more difficult. But, it's so close it could very well come to a place where the fence rides some wheels with a change of combination. Interesting.
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castagnojohn

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Post Tue May 14, 2019 12:52 pm

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

Great information, Thanks for sharing. I am working on my first LaGard 3330, this lock is a whole new ball game compared to the S&G 6730. I am scouring the information on this website for pointers, a lot of good information here. I will give this technique a try tonight. :hbg:
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MHM

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Post Tue May 14, 2019 4:37 pm

Re: Finally manipulated a LaGard

I bought one of these hideous Chinese 1548 things, mine is branded "Lexam" and has the LG logo on the dial.

I needed a lock to sacrifice to make a filmable cutaway and I got this because I didn't want to kill one of my good locks.

I can honestly say it's by far the worst so called safe lock I have ever seen; the tolerances are so poor and the wheels so out of round that it barely opens on the correct numbers, let alone give you useable or repeatable data when manipulating. The spline key is a press fit in the spline but loose in the cam. The wheels visibly wobble on the axle. And they are so oval that you can literally see the high spots come and go as you dial the thing. It's truly dreadful.

Edited for clarity.
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