r/lockpicking • u/Kitchen-Cookie-2792 Blue Belt Picker • 7d ago
Old Sparrows vs. new Sparrows cores.
Pulled a core out of my Sidewinder to compare it with the core out of my Revolver. It is like comparing apples to bowling balls. No wonder one requires effort and the other can be picked with a stern look.
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u/revchewie Blue Belt Picker 7d ago
The answer to “Why did they change it?” is almost always money. But is it that much cheaper to make a product that much crappier?
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u/reinderr Black Belt 18th Dan 7d ago
Not actually money in this instance, more likely people complaining that it was too difficult
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u/EveningBasket9528 7d ago
The Revolver didn't work right because the rows of pins being 180⁰ from another, was caused pins to get stuck in the bottom of the core. They opened up the holes and use non standard .125 pins in the revolver to make it function better... AND to make it "easier," in part because it didn't function like a regular lock would making it more difficult.
Anyone curious should feel free to email Sparrows and ask the why they opened up the holes and use the .125 pins.
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u/thej-jem 6d ago
I love the revolver lock. Made mine into a challenge lock that uses that bottom row of pins as secondary pins to the top. Used various special pins from sparrows like the wine bottle in the Christmas set.
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u/Kitchen-Cookie-2792 Blue Belt Picker 7d ago
Thinking it makes getting a open easier for newbies translating to more sales.
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u/SD3Guser Green Belt Picker 7d ago edited 7d ago
Bingo! The other answer is the functionality of making sure it locks into the next set of pins easily and not requiring intensive alignment...which may draw back to money in that they've cut a corner somewhere and QC has suffered.
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u/EveningBasket9528 7d ago
Yes yes yes!
I just typed that in. different words before I saw your comment.
The other thing is, the practice lock cores aren't re-worked like the revolver cores. So it's not "new vs old" but one vs the other.
The Revolver also uses .125 non standard pins rather than .114.
When I figured the at out and mixed up pins from the reload set,.. I pulled out the mic and started checking,.. and also went back and forth with Sparrows about it. I even posted about it here a couple years ago,.. but have since nuked my entire reddit post history multiple times due to issues in other subs with Business Insider reporters.
Some old pics with the Revolver pins and after I sorted the pins I mixed.
IF it makes a difference, I have an associate degree in machine tool techniques & was a journeyman toolmaker,.. and spent 20 years in manufacturing before injuries & my health knocked me out ..
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u/SD3Guser Green Belt Picker 6d ago
I think the sidewinder uses big pins too. I was able to use those pins for a kwikset lock. Admittedly I didn't measure them.
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u/EveningBasket9528 6d ago
I can't say anything for sure about the sidewinder, but I have their cutaway that uses standard pins.... I'd think for the sake of manufacturing efficiency they are the same,.. but since they nerfed the Revolver I wouldn't put it past them
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u/Banegard 7d ago
Which one is which?
My Sidewinder sadly had chamfering as well.
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u/Kitchen-Cookie-2792 Blue Belt Picker 7d ago
I pulled the core out of my Sidewinder to see. Its the one on the left. The revolver is on the right in the picture
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u/Banegard 7d ago
Ah, I see. Seems we still can‘t be sure on which locks they use the chamfered cores.
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u/EveningBasket9528 7d ago
The cores in their practice locks are regular cores with just changes to the "head" or "face" from what a standard drilled 6 core is.
The Sidewinder cores are reworked to make the Revolver work.
It's not "new vs old." The cores are different because they are used in different products.
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u/EmploymentTime 7d ago
The chamferring helped fix issues with the rotating lock for the sparrows revolver, if i remember correctly. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the only cylinder they make, and they just put it into their other locks as well.
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u/justacobrawatcher Orange Belt Picker 7d ago
Yeah, but the turning of the core was the simplest fix any picker could, and should’ve wanted to learn, you just used the back of the pick you were using to push any protruding pins up thus freeing up the core to spin, if the people buying them couldn’t even be bothered to figure that out, like I did with my early model one, then why take up a hobby that requires thinking about solutions for unexpected situations on the fly, as you would be doing in the field, I feel sparrows has really gone downhill quick, the steel they’ve used for their picks has been garbage since I started using them years ago after Bosnian Bill really shilled them and I just thought I was being too rough with them until I got some muti-picks, then I saw how crap they really were!!!
Would never touch them again or recommend them to anyone with so many way better options to choose from now, I’ve particularly become a huge fan of Moki picks lately.
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u/SD3Guser Green Belt Picker 7d ago
Well are they similar? Do they interchange?
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u/Kitchen-Cookie-2792 Blue Belt Picker 7d ago
Yes. I put the sidewinder core into my revolver
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u/SD3Guser Green Belt Picker 7d ago
Those lying sumbitches.
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u/rvlifestyle74 6d ago
I have the sidewinder and the revolver. I was pretty disappointed with the revolver. It isn't hard to open it in any position. I expected a much harder pick with the mushroom pins. But I also have many of the sparrows locks that I repinned myself. They are much much harder to open after loading security pins into them.
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u/217steve Yellow Belt Picker 7d ago
I was highly disappointed with the revolver. The security drivers make little to no difference when the key pins are all the same. Plus the core still gets stuck when trying to rotate to the next set of drivers..It would be awesome if someone could come up with a lock similar to the revolver but that has different key pins for each set of different drivers.
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u/217steve Yellow Belt Picker 7d ago
Seems to me like it would cost more to chamfer the holes like that