Stack On gun safe manipulation

[Alexander Mundy]

Picked up a Stack On gun safe off FB Marketplace for $50 without combo.
Said they got it years ago and it sat in the garage unused with the dial taped.
Their little Daughter took the tape off and turned the dial and they didn't know where they put the combo.
It is direct entry so I installed a digital level on the handle.
Felt 2 wheels besides the cam.
Checked the offsets L&R which were 2-1/4 cam to W2 and 4-1/2 cam to W1
Ran the cam around L to find the false and true gates which were 3 numbers wide.
6-19-31-44-55-69-79-94
Using the best reading cam gate (L19) I ran W2L (Ignore the "W3L" & "W2R"on the sticky, bad habit) finding the false and true gates for W2.
7-22-32-45-57-66-82-96
Picked the best reading gate on W2 (82) and ran W1R finding the false and true gates for W1.
5-16-26-42-56-67-81-92
Picked the best reading gate on W1 (5) and ran the gates on W2.
W2 best gate with W1 5 was 57.
Ran W1 gates with W2 57.
6th gate on W1 L16-R57-L19 and Yahtzee.

After finding 8 fairly evenly spaced gates on the cam and given the first 2 gates I found on W2 & W1 were about the same spacing,
I skipped 10 numbers ahead each time I looked for the next gate which saved a considerable amount of time although I did have to back up once.

45 minute manipulation, no graphing but making notes where needed so not sure if I can call it true freespinning or not.

[10ringo10]

Congrats on the open
Thats a damn good idea the digital level that's one more tool on the shopping list.
Will have to try this method ...so your just watching the digital reading rather than a mark on paper
Stuck to safe Or as some like to use now the laser pen method... For contacts on wheels

[Alexander Mundy]

Yes, a digital level works great.
I first used it on a smaller safe and wouldn't use anything else unless I had to.
The electrical cold water bond works well to put on a handle, and they come in varying sizes.
(Conveniently I'm an electrician)
The plate the level is on is just a piece of sheet metal I had laying around that I drilled a hole in to attach to the cold water bond for the magnet on the level to stick to.
This particular level also has a built-in laser (see the red circle on the side of it) so one could watch the dot on a target.

[femurat]

Great idea! And congrats on the opening.

Do you just try to always push the handle the same way? You don't need a spring or rubber band for consistency?

Cheers

[Alexander Mundy]

On a small safe that I manipulated I used rubber bands for constant tension. I started with a bungee cord on this safe and stopped using it after I found the cam gates. I just put about the same heavy tension on the handle each time. It wasn't as fussy as the smaller safe.

[MartinHewitt]

Did you check if there is a shift in CPs also?

[Alexander Mundy]

The cam is solid to the shaft.
2-1/4 W2
4-1/2 W1

[femurat]

It makes sense, thank you

[Juano2001]

I need to open this exact safe. I lost my combination years ago. This post is great start but I don't quite understand. Will search more on direct drive manipulation.

[Alexander Mundy]

I need to open this exact safe. I lost my combination years ago. This post is great start but I don't quite understand. Will search more on direct drive manipulation.

The National Locksmith Guide to Manipulation is a very good resource. You should be able to search the internet and find a PDF download. There is a section on straight in or direct entry fence locks which is what this safe lock is, however, you will need to be familiar with the basic first section. The old school pointer is used, but I find a decent digital level is simple. The one I use is not expensive and I have found it is repeatable to 0.05 degrees. Repeatability is not the same as accuracy. Repeatability is more important for this application than accuracy.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B09 ... UTF8&psc=1

[MartinHewitt]

I bought a small Chinese DE safe, because it was easier than making a bolt work. The bolt work was moved by a cruziform key. Due to the false gates I could manipulated it without any kind of pointer.

[Juano2001]

"Using the best reading cam gate (L19) I ran W2L (Ignore the "W3L" & "W2R"on the sticky, bad habit) finding the false and true gates for W2."

Can you clarify on this?

Best reading gate was based on deflection of the lever or angle in your case?

Where did you put W1?

How did you use L19? Dial last then check handle deflection with W2 set to each of the "gates"

Missing something...

[Alexander Mundy]

"Using the best reading cam gate (L19) I ran W2L (Ignore the "W3L" & "W2R"on the sticky, bad habit) finding the false and true gates for W2."

Can you clarify on this?

Best reading gate was based on deflection of the lever or angle in your case?

Where did you put W1?

How did you use L19? Dial last then check handle deflection with W2 set to each of the "gates"

Missing something...

Yes, once I found the true gate on the cam L19 (was obviously more handle deflection than the false gates), that set the last number in the combo.
I parked W1 (I do not remember where for sure) and dialed W2 Right by 2 number increments then Left to 19 and checked the handle deflection.
IE (assuming I parked W2 at L20 which is most likely what I did)
L20,R20,L19 check handle
R18,L19 check handle
R16,L19 check handle
R14,L19 check handle
etc

As long as you do not "pick up" (move) W1 there is no need to dial the whole combination each time while running W2

[Juano2001]

Thanks that clears it up. Wish I was home to keep going.

[Lou-z66]

Hi I'm new to this site but I have a stack on gun safe I bought about 4 years ago and while moving about 6 months later somehow lost the combination it's been sitting in my garage for about 3 years I'm trying to open using the digital level as you did but I'm not quite sure on a couple things. What does the two and a half Cam and four and a half cam mean and I'm assuming this safe is right left right I believe but could it be left right left. Any help you offer would be great.