The present invention relates to crimping pliers in particular used for forming at least three recesses at a contact element housing an electrical conductor. The inventive crimping pliers (1) comprise a toggle lever drive (6). The toggle lever drive (6) is built with an elastic pressure lever (18). The pressure lever (18) is preferably built with an offset or cranking (33) so that with the application of a longitudinal force the pressure lever (18) is biased by a bending. The flexible design of the pressure lever (18) provides a variable crimping stroke (in particular also in connection with a forced locking mechanism (28)) for different dimensions of the contact elements to be crimped.