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Remember what I said about main wep gimbals above? This is where they can become a curse! If you're too close to a targeted object the gimbals (& therefore your main weps' aiming points) are likely to go haywire, esp if those weps are mounted far apart on your ship's hull/outriggers, due to them not being able to converge on the target's CoM s Centre-of-Mass (CoM) within their firing arc. You won't be able to get them to settle down for long enough to get that accurate shot you wanted, esp in a M-class ship. Solution: back away a little until they steady themselves (if in an M-class this may result in you being too far away to see the locks clearly, in which case call in a suitable S-class ship or simply use the EVA suit's laser)
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Chances are you hit the box rather than the lock itself on this try. There are 2 parts to this: firstly if you're desperate for the loot that box may contain (eg mission cargo), you can EVA & use the suit's repair laser to fix the box's hull again; & secondly you probably had the box itself targeted (you can't target individual locks), which automatically directs any ship gun firing (not the suit's, fortunately) to focus on the target's Centre-of-Mass ( CoM). You don't want this: you only want the lock(s) destroyed, so ensure you have the box unselected as a target before you try precise shooting again. It may take a little practice & some retries, but lockboxes' contents can be quite lucrative early-midgame (altho often contain expensive illegal items), so worthwhile practicing with.. also, see below
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If you're in a situation where you find yourself taking on a capship in your fighter (it can happen!), it's not always an impossible dilemma. While you're highly unlikely to achieve a successful boarding op, disablement/destruction is usually on the cards. As always, find a blind spot, take out engines ASAP to deny it maneuverability, then start paying attn to its turrets. The latter is the second reason why those auto-correcting gimbals can be a curse: as soon as you select a turret as a target they're likely to go haywire again (as their target's CoM is too close, & you can't back off), so you'll have to be a bit more clever. Deselect the turret so your gimbals steady down (while remembering where it is ofc), then maneuver yourself so you're still within its blind spot but at least some of your guns can bear. Most of your shots are likely to hit the main shield/hull, but enough should get thru to damage/destroy that turret: watch for the bright white ouline outline that indictates subsystem hits (remember you only need to take it down to <25% of its HP for it to be disabled enough that it won't shoot), giving you another spot to work forward to to gain an eyeball on the next turret emplacement. Continue slowly like this until all fangs are pulled, then you can concentrate on ship shields/hull or simply GTFO as you wish. Don't be surprised if this type of battle takes you 1/2hr or longer realtime (excluding reloads if you play that way): it's a slow manual process & to be expected while working lonesome!
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