Pivoting Hook Bolt – By Chris Collier

Through the lock forcible entry options are often overlooked for sliding doors.  Most sliding aluminum stile glass doors are locked using a pivoting hook bolt, which is easily defeated utilizing through the lock techniques.  Smashing the glass is an option but never our primary option.  Smashing the glass is not our first (or second or third) option because it eliminates the capability to control the door.  Additionally, it is nearly impossible to remove all of the glass out of the rubber gasket on the perimeter of the door.  The glass shards that remain in the gasket can cut or otherwise damage the attack line, leaving us in a commercial building fire with no water.

Many aluminum stile sliding doors also have one or more bars running horizontally across the window. This is very common in nearly all commercial occupancies that utilize shopping carts.  The bottom portion of the door is either metal shield, or will have bars present to prevent the shopping cars from scratching or breaking the glass.  Through the lock techniques will also work on sliding or rolling gates such as those in schools and in hospitals.

As with any through-the-lock forcible entry operation the first step is to remove the lock cylinder. For this lock we can use the K-tool or the Rex tool to remove the cylinder.  Once the cylinder has been removed,  you will notice a cam on the back of the cylinder.  The cam indicates that we will need the bent-end of the key tool to manipulate the lock.

Mortise locks require us to move the locking mechanism from the  5 o’clock to the 7 o’clock position or the 7 o’clock to the 5 o’clock position.  These positions are dictated by the location of the keyway.  Before you pull the cylinder, take note of the keyways original position.  This original position is used as 6 o’clock.

Once the lock is moved to the unlocked position we can open the door, chock it, and continue inside…

No framing square required!