Device (1) for gripping an object such as a blow-molding container preform (3), comprising: a guiding body (12); a stop body (13), mounted so as to move axially relative to the guiding body (12) along an axis (4) of the device, intended to be aligned with the object (3) to be gripped; a mandrel support (7), equipped with a gripping mandrel (15), able to move axially relative to the guiding body (12) and having a plunge-in travel (8) going from a set-back position to a plunged-in position in which the mandrel (15) is capable of gripping the object (3). The stop body (13) has, together with the mandrel support (7), a system of support stops (18, 19) arranged so that the mandrel support (7) drives the stop body (13) axially onto a terminal portion of the plunge-in travel (8). The device (1) includes a return means (34, 36) mounted between the guiding body (13) and the stop body, for the purpose of driving the stop body along an axial set-back direction opposite direction of plunge-in travel.