Assembled in the USA.......Made in the USA

Most products in USA fit that mold....

I know they are assembled here in Minnesota and most parts are made here in the USA. But like most manufacturers sometimes you need to outsource a few things so my guess is they are just covering there butts by saying that.

You’re spot on! They got called out on cast jaws and chain from Taiwan so they dropped the made in America stamp

Not to deviate from strictly trapping, I would cut them some slack these days. It's hard to find workers or parts in this country right now.

I love my MB550s and will be buying at least a dozen Alphas.

You can always start making your own traps and let others criticize your choices. Yay capitalism!

At least they ain’t made in China.

You're right, I sure could! Or I could buy from manufacturers who are honest about the origins of their traps instead of importing an entire trap, changing out a couple frame bolts, and advertising it as "Made in USA".

At least Bill Duke stamps made in Korea on the frame

I see now why you bought those cheap dogless traps.

Tim Caven, family, and crew at Minnesota Trapline Products are close to being the best trapping equipment and supply dealer in the USA.....maybe even the best.

Didn't mean to stir things up this bad, I'm sure the alpha is a great trap, as is the 550. Never said they weren't a good trap. I just have issues with the technicalities, that's all

Carry on...

Ive got this one and the levers are twisted and makes it hard to set. Didn't think the levers would twist like this as thick as they are and I haven't even had it in the ground yet

Dusty, I think I would be making a call to MTP and let them know what you have. No doubt they will take care of it for you.

I’ve had a couple 550s like that before just grab a pair of channel locks and give it a twist. Now if the entire dozen was all like that then I’d complain to the company.

I absolutely believe they will too, I'm not bashing them at all just pointing out a possible issue to resolve going forward. I know they are new on the market to, i am just giving some feed back.

I've had some traps (not MB's) do that with new springs but never new traps right out of the box. I agree with you Dusty but still think Tim would like to know about it.

But most of his are from china

very common for the levers to tweak that way when 2 coiled. only one side of the lever is powered and that side will sit higher. as hammer said above, just tweak them with a large pliers and dont worry about it. theres nothing to be changed in the design of the trap to change this, unless theyre 4 coiled. if the other lever isnt sitting the same as the one pictured, it will be, after being fired a few times. this is just part of tuning a trap. ive seen the same with victor, b&l, northwoods, bridger, etc. definitely not a design problem or weakness in material.

Correct!^^^^^
Some folks on here havent looked closely at how a coilspring trap operates.

Yep ^^^^^^

I understand how coil springs work. I was just surprised that them heavy levers twisted like that. They are way heavier than Blake's, Vic's, ect. I understand they will twist with only 2 springs, just surprised at how far.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Can't say for sure as I only handled the Alpha for a short time at the NTA convention. The levers weren't 'twisted' as we think of in the normal sense.

However, with the 2 coiled trap the levers do (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) on the pins as a result of the asymmetrical loading on one side of the lever as allowed by movement between the pin and hole diameter size in the levers on all traps. The more clearance in the pin holes the more cocking of the levers. As stated earlier, some parts may not have been from completed production tooling. If the holes are stamped in the lever blank and the blanks weren't quite positioned in the forming dies, that would also account for a cocking of the levers on the pins resulting from a misalignment of the lever face to the pin axis.

Just my guesses based on 30 years as a development engineer taking products from concept to production. YMMV