Victor #2 coilspring

Question. I was modifying some of my old traps and ran across a victor #2 square jaw coil that has the jaw pins facing inside the frame instead of outside. I don't recall buying this trap new. I don't recall seeing any other traps made like it. My guess it was made in the 70's or 80's as that was when I bought most of that style of trap for fox trapping. It would seem more likely that the jaws could pop out under pressure.
Anybody know what years they were made and for how long?

Hi. I had some like that in the 80s. Don’t remember having any problems.

The No. 2 square jaw Victor coils were made by Animal Trap Co.from the 1930s onward and were promoted as a fox trap for years. Many were sold and used for fox although the thin high jaws often reached too high on the leg which resulted in damage problems. As coyotes spread into the eastern US and folks who used the light weight traps began catching coyotes with them they found that the larger, heavier coyotes often popped the jaws from the frames. In the 1970s, Animal Trap Co, reversed the bends of the jaw tips to reduce those problem. Because ATC used the same length stock for the new style jaws, the reversed jaw tips resulted in a slightly lower profile jaw which may have resulted in reduced damage as well as less jaw loss. Traps made early in this process, 1930s perhaps into the 1940s, are marked FOX TRAP on the pan and have collector value as do an early double jaw version marked NO. 22. Both of these early versions have the jaw tips that pass from the inside of the frame outward. Traps made later with reversed jaw tips were not made for long and are much less common than the original version. For those interested in collecting, traps with jaws pointed outward and inward are both available in tight and offset versions.

I thank you folks for the info. I must have had more of these some time in the past. I have several of these traps that have the "fox Trap" pans. If needed, They are going in the dirt this fall! Thanks again.

Commonly referred to as the reverse jaw model.

You might want to reconsider putting your traps with "fox trap" pans in the dirt. They have some collector value.

I'm sure some collector would trade you - maybe 2 for 1 for them. Then you would have more traps to put in the ground. IMO

Again, Thank you all for the information. I have a box of "old" traps that I have acquired when purchasing usable traps. They come with the lot. I doubt I will ever use them and I don't collect traps. I have been giving them to friends who like the thought of an old trap hanging on a wall in the house somewhere.