American Lock 5200

= American Lock 5200 =

The 5200 is a pin-tumbler padlock made by American Lock. It contains five or six pin chambers and uses various security pin designs for both key and driver pins. Serrated security pins are the most popular in 5200 padlocks in use.

This padlock is used by the United States Military for various low-security applications.

Principles of operation


The 5200 series padlock is a standard pin-tumbler lock with six pin chambers, but only five are typically used. The key pins come in standard and serrated deisgns. Driver pins come in a variety of security pin designs: spooled, serrated, and "spoorated"; a spool pin with serrated ends.

When all of the pins are lifted to the shear-line the plug can rotate clockwise. The 5200 Series is a key retaining padlock; when opened the key cannot be removed until the shackle and cylinder are returned to the locked position.

Disassembly instructions
Once the padlock is opened, the shackle can be turned and a screw can be removed from the hole the shackle popped out of. This unscrewing should drop off the bottom plug retainer allowing the plug to be removed. After the plug is out the same standard disasembly applies: