My opinion of side clips, for what it's worth, they are an invention of the devil. Contrary to what some believe, they add nothing to strength. HS photos show that SS actions gap on firing and side clips do nothing to prevent this because of their geometry. The angle of the side clip to the breech face is too shallow. One could be designed to stop this movement but it would be an ugly mother. The fact is that building an action with more strength than needed is worse than pointless, it just makes for a clunky gun. Furthermore since the commonest cause of loose actions in SS guns is wear from opening and closing if makes sense to keep the process of tightening them as simple as possible. That means replacable hinge pins, replacable sliding bolts and none of these frigging cross bolts, third fasteners, side clips, rib extensions and all that kind of crap.
Nial
