I was recently given a mixture of old victor and herters square jaws. Mostly #3 size. I’m not really interested in taking the time or spending the money to modify them to be comparable to modern traps.

I know the #2s are a good mink trap with the expanded pan.

Does anyone have any good uses for the old #3s?

I use any of them that I find for muskrat traps. I use them on my rat floats, so the cheaper the better. I also like how most of the time, the springs are worn out.

They make a pretty fair killer trap for under ice muskrats. I used to use them that way as a young trapper. I’d wire them to a stake with a slice of potato wired to the pan. It would catch them right behind the ears. Back then we had to be a minimum of five feet from a muskrat hut. I’d put a few around the hut several feet out and did fairly well with them.

The number threes also make a good mink trap with a barkers pan

My go to pack rat trap set with a light pan

I would put some Wild River or Barker pans of them. Today I was refitting a pile of #2 Victor square jaws with Wild River pans. Those old square jaw traps, 2 or 3's, are the gold standard for mink traps.

The #3 herters and some of the old victors with a high jaw make excellent front foot beaver traps, if they are strong, and they usually are. You have to catch them high above the joint, and the trap has to be strong enough to stay there. If the trap grabs low over the joint, you'll get alot of wring-offs.

I've caught quite a few beaver in the old Victor #3 coils on drowning cables in high theft areas. Not my favorite beaver traps, but they work well enough for front feet and I'm not out as much if one gets stolen.

Awesome, I wasn’t sure if they would be too big for mink, but it is essentially a body grip trap. The springs are not super strong anymore. I will probably use them for that.

Where trap theft is likely, I still use strong #2 and #3 Northwoods for canines. I don't do much water trapping but they would do well with a front foot drowning set for beaver. Not the ideal trap for either, compared to modern trap options; but then I'm not risking a $25+ trap.