My friend DVDTracker, sent me an IM on AR15.com and asked, "OP, I wonder how difficult it is to shoot a lock off? I've seen it done on TV and in movies, but wonder if it is as easy as they show it to be. How about if I send you some funds to buy some locks. Will you shoot them and report back?"

The only answer was, "Sure! Why not?"

So, with funds supplied by LifeLibertyEtc, I set up an experiment.

The question is: How hard is it to shoot a lock off?

This is the set up.

The locks were "MintCraft, 2 inch Laminated Padlocks", a knock-off of Master type locks.
They were heavy-duty and turned out to be tough.

We shot from a distance of about 15 feet, mostly to be far enough away in case of lead splattering.

Guys on the movies sometimes place the muzzle against the lock, but I'm not that crazy.

First, we shot a lock with 9mm ball.

You can see that it flattened out and dented the lock. It froze-up the lock and it could not be unlocked. But it held tight.

I decided to shoot the same lock with a 9mm JHP.

As you can see, it dented the lock, but bounced off.

Next, it was time for John Browning's finest, the .45 ACP.

The .45 ball flattened out against the lock, but the key would still open it.

Not much effect.

So, it was time for the .44 Magnum, "The most powerful handgun in the world and capable of blowing your head clean off!", at least according to Dirty Harry.

I used a 240 grain JHP.

I'll admit to a bad shot that only hit the bottom of the lock, but the second one centered it just fine.

You can see where one of the pins on the lock was blown upwards.

The lock was frozen shut.

But the lock held like a rock.