Finally a week ago I decided to try picking it. I've picked Yale locks, Corbin locks and a few "high security" locks but this was an entirely different ball game. I spent about an hour or so each night just fiddling with various picks, peeking in to see the pins, etc. I never made any progress but I actually was getting the feel of what was going on.
I modified a few picks and got a better feel of moving/manipulating the pins but I couldn't grab them the way I wanted.
Finally after three sessions of non productivity, the forth was the charm. This time I used a thin tension wrench as a pick, along with a snake pick and another tension wrench, to use as such. I had to "sandwich" the pins multiple times using the thin tension wrench and the pick, and then open the top to fit in the "real" tension wrench, without losing or changing the angle of the topmost pick. Otherwise I'd have to start over since the "up" pins would flip back up.
So this time I must have just got it right the first time. I sandwiched everything in (Three hands would have been nice!) and just created a wave motion with the two pick tools. About a minute later... the lock turned open! I don't believe this lock was ever modified either. Everything inside was quite original and fairly clean as well. Unfortunately no s/n sticker on the case but that's ok. There my success story. Well now to rekey it. I may try myself since Dave Berten is MIA again.
