I disagree.

Rounded jaws faces lead to slippage especially with using in water conditions

RdFx we going to go back through all that round jaw vs square jaw stuff again, i thought that was settled in the 80's? lol

Matt's probably talking about trapping coyotes with a CDR, lol. Back foot trapping beaver i don't see that and i quit dragging drowner's around years ago.

roztocki, since the Blake 44s were no longer being made and trappers loved them, Terry Montgomery made the #5 Bridger dlls and trappers loved it. Trappers asked for a better pan and dog system and Ed Medvetz produced the Paws-I-Trip system and trappers loved it. Later, Duke made their version of the #5 dbls and trappers loved it. The top notch coil spring versions came out soon after. Now today we have so many top notch beaver traps...we can pick and choose and trappers love it. lol

Over the many years that I trapped many thousands of beavers, I don't recall broken bones from the unlaminated #5s as long as the beaver didn't get hung up before drowning. Then the broken bones wasn't from the trap firing, but because of loss of swiveling.

Agree Paul, The issue with the original marks that were seen in the original post MIGHT HAVE BEEN where the chain wrapped around the ankle as the beaver was trying to get out... just my thoughts

All i had was #4 blake and lambs for years, when the 5 popped up i thought that was my trap! Did the PIT pan system on them and all that, to date ive still not caught a single beaver in one, was using drowner's back then, get a big toe nail sometimes for my troubles. Still no idea why that trap didn't fit me. CDR's came along and I never looked backed.

Those traps are essentially slightly larger copies of the 44 I agree. That’s why I used the word ‘American’ as I personally don’t use foreign made traps and I know there are others like me.

That has been my experience as well

I hate to speak for someone else but I mentioned it earlier too, I meant the actual face of the jaw, where they meet up not the shape of them.. Id say he did too.. Like the face of 750's and CDR's are flat and square.. Then a few beaver traps don't have that nice flat square jaw face but a rounded one..
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Just to add I bought some CDR's of Matt about 15 years ago and they were all laminated come to think of it..

Interesting thread. I’m a novice beaver trapper. # 3 Bridger is the biggest trap we can set here in PA and that’s what I use. I set for front foot catches but caught this one this morning by the back foot. Only had it by a couple of toes. I’ll have to look tomorrow to see if there’s marks where the trap slid down the foot.

I’ve had a few whole back foot catches in those #3 Bridgers.

You should be using 330s JK!

Toe catches are just a part of beaver trapping. If they have a large portion of their back foot on a jaw when it fires you will have toe catches. I use guide sticks to guide the foot into the middle of the trap, it helps tremendously, but strange stuff happens occasionally where a beaver still doesnt do what its supposed to. If youre having a lot of toe catches or escapes it's either your trap placement or the traps themselves. The smaller the trap, the more likely you are to have a beaver spring the trap with a portion of its foot on a jaw. The jaws of Bridger 5's, both long springs and coils, must be somewhat rounded because I could occasionally see slippage marks on the rear feet and had some escapes. Not so with 750's. If I said how many sprung and empty 750's Ive had over the many years most would call me a liar, but use sticks to guide them in and 750's do their part. I've found out you cant set 85's shallow either, not sure why, I have ideas, but I had some sprung traps with them set shallow. If I had to pick a #3 or #4 sized trap it would be the #3 Bridger. They were my go to trap before the 750;s came out. I four coiled them strong and they worked good. I still use them where I might get theft. I see a lot of videos and pictures of guys just setting their traps in front of a castor mound or bait without guiding. Youre just asking for toe catches and sprung traps. Beaver often will go into the wind to the lure, and if its not blowing straight out, the beaver isnt as likely to step into the middle of your trap where you need it to, to get a deep suitcased hold. By guiding I explained it in this:

https://trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1707388/beaver-footholds-with-pics#Post1707388

750s for me

Yep^^^ I've seen this many times. Trap didn't slip.

Also, NO laminated beaver footholds for me. I need the bite of regular jaws. I can count on one hand the number of broken bones on beaver over the last 40 years.

Yes, being able to lift the loose jaw to set the CDR PIT pan is much safer than having your hand inside the jaws.

I think the 750s have a tendency to lose swivelling when the bars that hold down the jaws get tangled in the drowning wire or cable. When I started using drowning rods that problem stopped.

The hind foot sliding was the reason beaver traps of yesteryear had teeth.It kept the foot from sliding

Trapset the 330s when I am alone scare me. To old to be playing with fire I guess. Have never been caught in one and would like to keep it that way. I do have one out and that is my only trap out today in a guaranteed catch set------hA HA. We will see I dont want an 8 or even 6 beaver day anymore....thanks......jk