Will Turner Blog: Major Manufacturing’s HIT-66 System

Introduction

Major Manufacturing’s HIT-66 System is one of the most ubiquitous installation tools in the locksmith industry. It allows locksmiths to perform professional installations of the most popular cylindrical and mortise locks with amazing efficiency.

HIT-66 Clamp System

The basis of the HIT-66 is it’s clamp system. All other tools in the HIT-66 family attach to these rubber-lined clamps. The clamps fit doors ranging from 1-1/4” to 2-7/8” and are machined from aluminum.

HIT-66-110

The HIT-66-100 is, for all intents and purposes, an installation template for any lock requiring a 160 or 161 prep. It can perform fresh installations or enlarge existing crossbores. It works on wood and steel doors and can accommodate 2-3/8″ and 2-3/4″ backsets. It features 5/16″ holes for through-bolts at the 6 and 12 o’clock positions. The latchbore can be drilled with either an auger, brad-point, multi-point, or hole saws with the supplied adapters.

HIT-66-200

The HIT-66-200 is an attachment that mortises pockets for mortise locks. It directly attaches to the HIT-66 clamp system and can be used in conjunction with nearly all other HIT-66 templates at the same time. This allows you to perform a fresh installation of almost all popular mortise locks currently on the market. It comes with a 1″ carbide-tip mortising bit along with stop collars.

HIT-66 Templates

Mortise lock templates are the shining stars of the HIT-66 system. These templates allow you to accurately and quickly drill cylinder, thumbturn, trim, and all other auxiliary holes for the most popular mortise locks. The following templates are available from Major to work with the HIT-66:

HIT-66-210 (Alarm Lock DL3500)
HIT-66-230 (Best 34H/37H/45H/47H)
HIT-66-235 (Corbin Russwin ML2000/ML2200)
HIT-66-240 (Falcon MA)
HIT-66-248 (Hager 3800)
HIT-66-250 (Kaba E-Plex/5000)
HIT-66-251 (Kaba 660/760/770/790)
HIT-66-255 (Marks 5/DORMA M9000)
HIT-66-263 (Onity CT)
HIT-66-264 (Onity HT)
HIT-66-266 (Saflok MT)
HIT-66-268 (Salto XS-4)
HIT-66-272 (Sargent 7800/7900/8200/9200)
HIT-66-280 (Schlage AD)
HIT-66-281 (Schlage CO)
HIT-66-282 (Schlage L)

Using the HIT-66

The HIT-66 is one of the easiest installation tools to use. In this example, I’m going to show you how it works by using the HIT-66-282 template for Schlage L Series mortise locks.

This door has a Schlage L9070 (Classroom function) mortise lock. It needs to be converted to a L9050 (Office/Inner Entry function). This means that the hole for the thumbturn hole needs to be drilled.

Schlage L9070

To start, the existing lock must be removed.

Mortise Pocket

Once the lock is removed, we can begin attaching the HIT-66 and template. We start first by attaching the positioning plate. This helps orient the rest of the HIT-66 tool.

Positioning Plate

With the positioning plate install, we can now mount the rest of the HIT-66. The HIT-66 slides over the post of the positioning tool and is then pressed against the edge of the door. The clamps can then be tightened.