5 pin or 6 pin?

6 pin especially when made of good quality materials and to tight engineering tolerances.

We don't have enough details. It's like asking if you should use a slotted or phillips screw driver. Lets have the rest of the information.

depends on your application...

not really...

g'day

Yes jsmith, you're right to some degree.... a 6 pin lock is a bit harder to pick than a 5. But having said that, a bigger factor to consider when it comes to pick-ability is the size differences a pin is to the next. Also the the quality of the cylinder and the tightness of the fits and tolerances of that cylinder play an important part. The shape of the keyway also adds a relative barrier or ease to picking. Then there is the mechanical process the cylinder is using and that can leave the cylinder nearly pick-proof. Considering all the factors as a whole, 5 or 6 pins is only a small factor.... better to shop for a better lock with better types of resitances being offered........ ask your local locksmith for his or her suggestion. Good luck.

M

If the locks are otherwise identical, yes, adding pins makes the lock harder to pick. (Hence the systems with many many pins...) If it's a sloppily constructed lock, the incremental change from adding just one pin may not be very large... but it certainly won't hurt.

Adding pins is more often an issue when you need to create a larger master-keying system. Many businesses use 7 pins for that reason.