I just received my first 280's, I'm not impressed. They have 330 safeties, 330 triggers and (I assume since these are my first 280's & they are much smaller than 330 dogs) 280 dogs. The safeties- they engage somewhere between one half & two thirds away from the spring eye, allowing more of a gap between the jaws than a 330 and a lot more hand pressure to set them, not a problem setting them but a pain when I'm working on them to get them right. The triggers- the 330 triggers on the smaller diameter 280 is loose in all directions, the trigger wire is wobbly, everything is wobbly. I have - tightened the rivet to tighten the trigger wires and punched the trigger flats in to get them to work with the dog. The dogs- they are much smaller than a 330 dog but with the 330 triggers they take as much filing to get them to work, without the meat of a 330 dog. I'm filing at least 1/2 way thru the backbone of the dog to get a suitable engagement. In their stock form the trigger is swinging at least 3 inches before it fires and that is being generous. 1) Is this standard for most brands of 280's?
2) Hal, somewhere in my reading on this site I seem to remember you said you seldom do the Dobbins adjustment on 280's. That would indicate to me either you buy better 280's than I have or that the wild (4-5 inch) swing of the trigger makes no difference as to the critters targeted with a 8x8 bodygrip trap. Thanks, Richard