doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Do sideclips really work ?

Functional or not you can cut your hand on one faster that a Teal can change directions. They may look good but are a item that will cause me to not buy a gun. That decreases the price for others who like them. If I wore gloves all the time they might not bother me as much but I try not to wear two gloves everywhere and one glove alone makes me look too much like Michael Jackson.

Sounds to me like sideclips are to a double gun what tailfins were to a '50s American convertible. More part of the aesthetic than a real contributor to function.

I only cut myself once with a sideclip and I shoot several guns with them. I learned quick that they are sharp.

I guess that using them is akin to using a pocket knife without a blade lock. You have to be careful, but it is not all that hard to do really.

Hmmmmm........my last concern when I introduced this topic was whether someone could actually cut themselves on the beveled edge of a side clip. Interesting, as I have never heard of this, but in retrospect I can see how that could happen. Rather, the jlist of the question is really whether the lateral forces or , the rotatational forces......or torque.....a twisting-like motion that a shotgun demonstrates upon detonation is not diminished but rather offset with these side clips?? Does this force really have anything to do with SxS shotguns where these side clips would diminish the stress on the action? As a person of science, I'm having difficulty appreciating where sideclips would really do any good at all.

Agree with Ken and Jon that they're great hand-cutters. That being said, I won't reject a gun because it has them.

Other than looking good to some and cutting hands if careless or forgetful of them, they do no real good Buzz. At least that is what the two gunsmiths I use most tell me.

About as useful as teats on a boar hog. Buzz, actions are made from rather soft and pliable material and those thin side clips have neither the strength or elasticity to block side forces.

I'm with Old Colonel and cannot believe that there is (was) no real reason for sideclips. In old catalogues guns are praised with "fivefold locks" of course two of them beeing sideclips. Gunmakers didn`t made them (BTW many of the belgium made guns have them) just for looking good or cutting hands. I'm curious if there is anything different in handling guns in the US??? I never had any problems nor ever heard of it!

Kind Regards,
Wolfgang

OK, asked my Gunmaker friend... They are as good as useless.... Very often used on cheaper guns because hiding the air at the barrels end for the unpracticed viewer.
Kind Regards,
Gunwolf

Interesting discussion, causes me to wonder if their intended real purpose may not have been to act as a deflection devise for escaping gases in the event of a punctured primer, much as some standing breeches have a gas escapement groove cut in them. Fences served a similar purpose on earlier guns as a form of protection for the shooter.

Anyone know where side clips originated or what gun was the first to tout them? Was there ever mention of them being 'protective' or was it always advertised as being a 'lock' or bolting improvement?

Personally, I find them an annoyance & have suffered a cut on more than one occasion from being inattentive.