I still like and use #4 and 14 jumps for beaver. There are better traps and I have many of them. But 4 Jumps are still a good trap. It’s rare to find a weak one, they can be bought inexpensively and when used properly will catch and hold beaver just fine. But the pans, like their long spring brethren, offer nothing in pan tensioning.

I picked up a few nice, strong 4s recently and worked the pan and triggers and pans to offer a little more tension. I never got the hang of filing a Miles trigger but this is similar and without spending another $7+ dollars a trap for a PIT pan. It doesn’t offer the adjustment the PIT does but it’s far ahead of factory.

I start with a couple light passes on the pan notch to give me a good clean surface to see.



Next I turn the file on edge and make a couple passes to establish a line for the new notch.



Once the line for the notch is established I lay the file over against the pan eye to create an undercut notch.





I bend the dog to add a little tension and grind an undercut on the end of the dog. It serves to make a nice crisp trigger edge and seats nicely in the new notch. Looks like I forgot to take the burr off before I took the picture.

Yep, very nice and quick process...cheap too. When the pan gets knocked off then switch it out for the P.I.T. system.