My experiences with the 1216 are similar, but no clear answers, maybe rats, trigger and height? Had wondered if anyone else had sprung traps. A number of years ago I bought 4 of the 1216's and used them at the same time along with 2 dozen superbears. The 1216's are a bit different, like a Savageau, and I have not taken the time to understand the trap fully and don't have a handle on exactly what is happening, yet, but hope to. I too have experienced sprung traps with the 1216's, more than expected or was acceptable and then put them aside quite a while back, but will not pass judgement on them in any negative way just yet without spending some time with them. With anything new or different there is often a learning curve, sometimes requiring adaptations or modifications, which may be quite simple or easy to make in the end, but will make a huge difference in results. Making a conibear trap bigger seems simple enough, a change minor in nature it would appear, but it does not always translate into what you believe will happen in catching, distances, speed. I like the 12 inch height for clearance, but have seen no problems with the 10 inch height with the superbears or standard 330 size.
Years ago, before superbears, I made a couple of 1218's. They worked but were junk really, compared to the new traps. Very glad to see Kaspars Superbears. I have also made a couple of monsters, even larger than 1216's, 1416's I think, for no other reason than having a welder and time, but they too were sprung a lot and got mothballed for another day a long time ago and need a revisit with a new trigger at the very least.
I have had two 1216's next to the welder for a month and need to get to them. In the not too distant future I'd like to revisit the 1216 trap and do some modifying on the trigger to make it mimmic the trigger on the superbear more closely, a trigger I like very much. The superbear trigger is stable, consistent and with the right amount of travel. Centered as it is in both directions when set, the superbear trigger seems to fire correctly as the traps take beaver, otter, and rats with no trouble and relatively few misses when placed correctly. The superbear is a great rat trap, just a "little" overkill. Took 60 rats in superbears by accident one fall at $6 ea. so imagine no one minds $12 rats. Unlike a swim through cage trap with a deeply recessed trigger, which makes a sprung trap less likely, in the set position a conibear trap is a flat surface that reaches out to make a catch, offering more chances for a miss.
From experience in trying every new trap I could, engineering, building and altering traps, I am less apt to quickly toss a trap onto the scrap heap without at least making a solid attempt to understand what is happening, usually by going back and duplicating something that has been proven and going from there.
I think together we can get to the bottom of the problem and end up with a trap to use with confidence.
