Yee Yee Life: Can a Gun Blow Open a Lock?

Hollywood loves to show heroes blasting padlocks off gates like it’s nothing. One trigger pull and boom, instant access. The guys over at Yee Yee Life decided to test that myth the only way they know how: set up the backyard range, grab a pile of guns, and start shooting locks until something breaks.

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The question: Could you actually blow open a lock with a gun? And if so… what would it take?

They started small. A Ruger Mark V in .22 LR. At 10 yards, Parker tags the Master Lock and… nothing. A dent. A scratch. And a zombie would’ve eaten him five minutes ago. No surprise there.

Next up, a .45 ACP 1911, the OG movie hero gun. Big dent, no breach, lock still holding. The bullet mushroomed beautifully, though, so at least someone got a souvenir.

The boys switched to a fresh lock and a Glock 19. A dead-center hit in 9mm punched a bulge into the body but didn’t open anything. They even tried the shackle. Skimmed off, no dice. The lock kept laughing.

So far: zombies 3, Yee Yee Life 0.

Parker brings out his trusty .44 Mag, complete with a story about dropping a bear in Alaska. It hits hard, the lock bulges again… and still doesn’t open. Even the already-damaged Master Lock refuses to quit.

When in doubt, go big. Really big.

The Desert Eagle in .50 AE lands a clean hit and finally pops the Master Lock open. The bullet eats through the face and blows the shackle upward just enough to release.

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So yes. You can shoot open a cheap lock… if you bring a hand cannon the size of a cinder block.

Fresh lock. Much stronger. Same .50 AE.

The bullet punches in, cracks the shackle, even heats the whole lock until it’s “scalding hot”… but it still won’t open enough to remove the chain.

Technically “open.” Functionally useless.

The hardened lock gets punished repeatedly:

• 5.56 green tip: drills nearly to the back wall. Still locked.
• .308: huge crater, still no opening.
• .50 BMG: full pass-throughs. Brutal impacts. Broken shackle. Molten-hot metal.
  And yet… still locked to the chain.

Even a .50 cal couldn’t “Hollywood-open” a hardened steel padlock.

Before the .50 BMG finale, they tossed a Master Lock onto the gate and hit it with a 12-gauge slug. The result?

Total annihilation. The lock disintegrated. The shackle blew free. The internals scattered like confetti.

If you needed to breach a cheap lock, a 12-gauge slug is doing more work than most handguns ever could.

Can you shoot a lock off?

Master Lock: Yes, with a Desert Eagle or a slug.
Hardened Steel Lock: Practically no, the boys destroyed it, melted it, and punched holes through it, but never got a functional breach.

The movie myth lives on screen for a reason.

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