TargetTalk

I picked up a used Steyr FP at my local dealer today, and while filling out the paperwork the tumblers for one of the two locks on the case got moved by my bored daughter. After closing and latching the case, the inevitable result is that the case cannot now be reopened. I've got an email off to the seller, but in the meantime does anyone know of any secret (default) code that will work?

You can imagine how frustrating it is to have a new toy and not be able to get to it! The case, in and of itself, is not that much fun.

First, did you try whatever combination is showing on the un-moved lock on the adjusted one? And sorry for insulting your intelligence if you already did... sort of the equivalent of asking if you plugged in your computer :)

Is it a three digit combination? (three tumblers of 0-9 each?) If so, that means 1000 possible combinations. You can probably try a combination every couple seconds or so, which means a worst-case of 2000 seconds or about half an hour to try all the combinations: 000 up through 999. If it's 4 digits, then that's about 5 hours of trying. If you can't get an answer from the seller, you can probably knock that out in a week's worth of evening TV watching without going completely insane.

I would give it to your seven year old to try all the possible combos......they LOVE doing stuff like that!

Get a magnyfying glass and roll each tumbler and look carefully, it is often
possible to see a difference in the finish for the number that has been exposed, the older the lock the easier.

Can you push the pins out of the hinges? I lost the keys to my rifle case while heading to an event. The case was mostly for air travel and keeping the gun safe not theft proofing. The hinge pins pushed out and I had a good event. Afterwards, I popped the pins into place and flew home

Impatience got the better of me, and I drilled the rivets out (easy to replace). I THEN did the trial end error, and opened it within 10 minutes.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Off to the hardware store for some small nuts and machine screws.

Tom,
That Steyr is a real rara avis among free pistols. Please share your observations/experiences with us.

So far I'm very impressed and very very pleased. Big downside is no apparent dry-fire ability. Haven't had a chance to get to the range yet (Tuesday, I hope), but the weight and balance are very nice for me. I'm interested in seeing how the low boreline affects the feel of the shot. All of the bondo (auto-body filler...distinctive smell) that was on the grip popped off with some gentle chisel prying, so the previously painful medium grip now fits perfectly.

Don't feel bad about the case. My wife's 3-year old grand-niece was here at Thanksgiving. This child is a complete terror - she even challenged our 26 pound doxie that was ready to take her apart. No fear whatsoever.

We heard a beep-beep-beep-beep as she pressed the buttons to my safe; no big deal, she'll never figure out the combo. Then heard a *click* as she opened the door! Two of my kids and I reached the safe at the same time and the monster's mother came to retrieve her. I was really rattled and I thought my mother-in-law (the kid's great grandmother) was about to pass out when I told her what the monster had done. The monster has never seen us punch in the combo, so there was no way for her to know what the code was - just complete luck (or maybe possession by the devil).

I was really glad when this kid went home right after dinner!