Will they hold coyotes? Yes I know the 450 and 550s are the best

Yes, and I ran a lot of them as a compromise for my mixed bag line. Less room under the jaw for incidental coon but stout enough to hold coyotes, I had no problem holding them in this model. The #2 size up is a better model. The issue I had with the 1.75 is the pans were thin and I spent a fair amount of time in field rebending them after a catch. Same with the thin dog. Those are in my opinion the truly weakest point on the Bridger 1.75 model.
After several seasons running them for coyotes here I have completely retooled to Bridger #2 dogless and haven’t looked back.

Coyote in a Bridger 1.75 and I did catch a lot of them in this model over several seasons.


Closeup of typical hold.


But here is hold on the #2 dogless the model on a cat, and I have completely switched over to this model. Haven’t had to rebend a single pan or dog, and it holds anything I have visiting dirtholes and post sets here.


Jim

Do you catch many fox in the Bridger #2? I've always wondered how they'd do on them. I love the way they bed compared to the 550.

Same size as the bridger 1.5 but square jaws. Holding coyotes isn't s problem. Might miss an odd one or two because of the smaller kill area.

Thanks. I run #2 dog less and dog on now but looking for a smaller trap because of jaw restrictions in the northern half of the state. Mb550 would be great but that's too pricey.

Yes I don’t see an issue. If you want to beef up the trap a bit you can go to the rod style dog and pit pans . I just modified some 1.50 victors and some 1.65 Bridger Rj and am satisfied with the upgrade.

The 1.75 would be a great fox trap. I didn’t have many fox where I was trapping coyotes.
The 1.5 coil size accounted for jillions of fox over the years for many trappers. The 1.75 would be very similar.
For reference, I used a bunch of #2 longsprings for coyotes for a long time through late 70s and up to about 10 years ago or so. It was about all used back then. I did catch a lot of fox way back when but more recent years we just didn’t have many around. The #2 long had same jaw spread as the 1.5 coil did.
Jim

FYI, That 1.75 Bridger held coon very well for me. Also held cats and badger, plus the coyotes I was targeting. I liked the trap just wished it had a better pan and dog. I saw folks weld washers on the pan and some rod on top of the dog to stiffen them up more. Coyotes can be kind of hard on equipment and the weak points will show. These days they do just coon work for me. But I know if I do get an incidental coyote it will hold them no problemo.

And please sir, this was all just my take on them please listen to others to get an overall picture and opinion. I’m no expert but you asked and thought I’d share my experiences.
Good luck sir.
Jim

I have had the same exact experience as jabNE, they are a good little trap, but you will have to do some repair after a catch. They are one of my favorite traps though, I have sure put up a lot of fur with them.

Shorthair, just a thought on SWITCHING over to a different trap...why not put some inside laminations on your #2s...to satisfy the jaw spread reg.s? That way you are still using the same traps? I don't know the specifics of your laws but that might be a better option....

If you want to change, why not go with the Duke 550. Great trap and cheaper than the MB. Or like MChewk states, put some laminations. The #2 dogless you are using is a good trap.