If one is attempting to gain access to premises via a door quickly, and one is not meant to be, which option would be best in general opinion? Speed can be traded off for stealth here.

Quick
Halligan (or Hooligan) bar. Lots of noise, reasonably quick.
K Tool. Less noise than the Halligan, alot more visible to passing 'Deputy Dog' types, may fail

Stealthy
Picking, manually or with an electric. Takes too long, electric picks are noisy.
Drilling the lock's sheer line at an earlier stage (thus leaving it able to be turned by any key) and returning at 'go' with 'any' key. Fiddly, could be detected.

BOOM
Frangible compressed powder SG round... according to police info, when done properly has a 90% success rate, but is mega loud.
Bolt breaching charge. Also loud, better chance at success because of positioning, but hard to reliably manufacture at home.

Any discussion on the above options, or any other options, would be appreciated.

Depends what type of door it is.

Screen door, glass sliding door, crappy indoor door, solid wood door, steel door.

For anything other than a steel door, I wouldn't blow it up. Even though it is quick, EVERYONE within kilometers will hear it, and someone is bound to tell the pigs.

If its a screen door, cut through it.

If its a glass sliding door, get some very sticky electrical tape or duct tape and stick a big X on the door with a square around it. If the door is really big, apply more duct tape then smash the glass. The duct tape will stop the glass falling to the floor and making a shitload of noise.

If its a crappy indoor door, kick through it. You can put your fist through one, so it would be easy to kick down.

If its a solid wood door, try and kick the lock out. If that is a no go, try and take out the hinges with a sledge hammer. Often people will have decent locks on their doors, but the hinges are shithouse.

If its steel, blow it open or cut through it with a oxy cutter or something.

Drilling out a lock wouldn't be too hard, as long as you practiced on a lock that was about the same before hand. Why would you be drilling it out before hand?

With the crowbar technique, if you can pull the door a few millimetres to the side, you should be able to slide a metal hook and open the trangular latch. If its dead bolted, thats another story.

Use your own judgement about what you can do and what you can't do.

If one is attempting to gain access to premises via a door quickly, and one is not meant to be, which option would be best in general opinion? Speed can be traded off for stealth here..
I think a lot depends on WHAT you're going to be doing there. "In n' out" or staying for a while?

I have found that most BACK doors can simply be kicked open, with little notice being taken. Get inside quickly, and close the door. The neighbors look around, say "what was that?" and go about their business. After a 10-15 minutes to get the goods and let everyone get calmed down, leave by the front door as if you belonged there.

I learned this while working for an appliance repo place many years back.
-BW

I locked myself out of my office one night, went to the restroom and left my keys and back-up keys in my jacket. The locksmith racked the pins in the lock with a lockpick for thirty seconds. No go.

When people think of the door, they overlook the fact that the door locks into the doorframe. A hollow doorframe has give to it. The locksmith took out a heavy duty screwdriver, placed it between the lock and doorframe, gave a shove with his hip, and the door was open. It sounded almost like the normal sound of a door opening. It took only seconds. It also does little damage, a few scrape marks on the door and jam.

I am trying to find my copy of the "barrier Penatration Database" that gives the means and expected time for penetration of various barriers, where noise is not an option.

I've found that the good old fashioned bomb in a CO2 cartridge works wonders on combo and pad locks.

Just fill with any suitable energetic material, slide inside the U of the lock, and the explosive force will pop the bar right out.

If one puts only enough engredient to burst the cartridge, the noise shouldn't be too loud, but power will be sufficient. Also, different explosives make different pitches of noise. A nice shrill high pitched bang won't be noticed as much as a bassy concussion.

Of course, this method is usless against traditional style door locks.

You must always use the right tool for the right job. The only time I have ever encountered explosives in breeching locks and doors is in police forced entry. If you need to get into a fortified doorway, you don’t care about the police or anyone knowing, and you don’t plan to spend any time their, this option is valid (e.g., you have come to kill the local drug dealer and his crew).

Using an explosive charge for a simple B&E can turn a minor case into a full blown investigation because you went and used an explosive! Your case just got bumped to the top of the list of police priorities because now they think you are a terrorist armed with weapons of mass destruction. We may disregard all this sheeple propaganda, but the police and authorities eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff. Some may seriously believe Al Qaeda is in their community.

We may disregard all this sheeple propaganda, but the police and authorities eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff. Some may seriously believe Al Qaeda is in their community.

None of the cops I know do, but they pretend to, because that's where the grant money is now.
-BW