OK, Bob, now I understand! Those type of clips were used a long time ago on motorcycles (Ossa, Bultaco and Montessa) the little 90° bends on the ends were an attempt at 'locking' the clip in the groove. You basically grabbed the clip with bent nose pliers, compressed it very gently, inserted the bottom of the clip in the groove and then compressed it a tiny bit more so that the top of the clip could be pushed into the groove with a small punch. IIRC, the Spanish bikes used a very thin walled piston pin that would aid in this.
Your saw is from the time period when this method was common so, I can understand from where your frustration comes.
Tim