But everything being equal a smooth faced jaw that doesn't cut or excessively bruise is better no matter the weight. And weight probably comes in more if they struggle but the case can also be made for weight tiring them out so I can't make a solid call.

I would have to agree Warrior. I would think that the more weight the animal is lugging around the more potential for damage. I also think that the more swivels (within reason) would also greatly help.

Definitely swivels, minimum three for me. One at trap one mid usually connected to a shock spring, and one at the stake usually other side of spring..

I can't prove that the springs do anything more than make me feel better though.

I'm going to try shock springs on about have of my traps this year and see if I notice any difference. It's more to cover/bury at the set but may be worth it.

If you are going to get shocks get the JC Conners .I set up with shock springs and swivels.Even with that sometimes there will be an issue.

Will do Slipknot!

I've got some JC, Sleepy Creek and the PIT springs with swivels.

All work well as designed but like the pit the best. They swivel top and bottom so eliminates two extra bits of gear. But the JC and Sleepy Creek gives you four swivel points since you need crunch proofs on them. A toss up but the PIT is shorter.

If I had two choose I'd favor the JC over the Sleepy Creek.

I know a guy who live market traps. Favors the MB450 and Victor padded jaw. I believe he ended the year with 738 K9,s and will tell you the 450 is a fine trap !

Thanks 2Poor. Sounds good. I will be trying a few padded jaw traps also. At least down here I will not have to worry about frozen rubber cutting the skin.

If the temps drop into the mid to upper 20s for a few hours at night those rubber jaws are terrible on their feet.

If the foot (below the jaws) freezes hard with a full pad catch......go ahead and dispatch that coyote or fox. If it's just a toe (or two) caught it'll still be marketable.

I will keep that in mind Swamp Wolf. Thanks

I have used the Victor #3 RJ in the past and still use a few from time to time.Replacing the rubber is a pain on them. And they are hard to come buy.So I took a few of my 550 and changed them to RJ.I figured i am set. Then a problem arises on those and I started having toe catches and way too many snapped traps and pull outs.I have no idea what was going on with them.Never had that issue before .I even had a phone conversation about it with a member on here to see if he could shed some light.So i changed them all back to the original jaws i even had some Duke 550 that i put MB Jaws on.This weekend i had no snaps and no pullouts and All full pad catches .I have no idea why..

Are your 550 4 coiled? I have some Duke #3 rubber jawed traps and they are much slower with 2 coils so I 4 coiled them. They need the extra strength to come up through the ground with that big rubber jaw on them.

It is difficult to get any new Victor traps right now. Since COVID they stopped manufacturing them. Reason supposedly is that the steel is to expensive for them to produce. Yet, many other manufacturers are still producing traps. Go figure.

All mine are 2 coiled...

I have been playing with the live market coyotes for several years now. I bought 11 dozen Victor rubber jaws this past winter. You can put jc Conner pads on them with some trimming and they seem to be good for my style on short chains. I like the jc Conner shock springs on traps, but can’t feasibly put them on everything. I do seem to have less cutting when I use them, but they seem to fight a lot harder when I have them on. I think it’s because they feel the give

Yote65ga...check out Sterling Fur Co...for Victor traps....they got them.

Thanks MChewk

What size trap are you using?