doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Side Clips

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

Let's check and see what Nial thinks.:}
Best,
John

Did someone say sideclips on a Boswell were rare? I don't know, but here's one of mine:



Also has nice three ring logo Krupp barrels.

You chaps can dig-up what you can, search the net for the obscure, but very few of the best London gameguns had side clips.
1 in 100....maybe....perhaps!
Just not needed for the huge brace counts of old.

nialpatrickmac I agree that pair of Purdeys look like works of the devil.
If you don't mind me asking how did you achieve such 3 star stardOm with only six posts ?

Lowell I'm sorry your Beesley is not one of those one of a hundred best London Game guns.

h0meless0ne, don't worry so!
Old 10bores aren't lite gameguns.
Hey j0e, give those tubes a thump for me eh.
Sounds like you've got the makings for a rhinestone cowboy.

I never noticed those stars before but now that you've called them to my attention I wonder why so few.
Nial

jOe I have never seen a loose Purdey.
Rocket can we agree that all things being equal the bearing surface furthest from the hinge is the optimum place for a locking bolt?
All the best

Thanks for clarification. I didn't save SSM article on measuring gun handling parameters using "Merry-Go-Round"
You should see Purdey double underbites plus Greener cross-boltSS on a SxS. I shot Anton Sodia .458 with this setup. Very Gargoyleisch!

"Rocket can we agree that all things being equal the bearing surface furthest from the hinge is the optimum place for a locking bolt?"

It is the place with the lowest force but that may not necessarily be the optimum place. A rib extension locking mechanism means that more of the action and barrels must carry the force of firing. That means that the action and barels must be stiffer to control flexing. "Stiffer" usually means bigger, which usually means heavier. I don't see any of the locking mechanisms as "optimum." They each have a set of pros and cons for the designer to consider and work with. If one was optimum, that is the one every designer would use. In terms of use, I guess that the high volume of USA made guns with various rib extension locking about balances out the more wide spread use of the Purdey double under bolt system.

Greener, as I recall, demonstrated that a gun snuggly on-face could be held shut with finger pressure during firing. That means that the locking mechanism doesn't carry a lot of load until the gun becomes loose.