I am going to mention something with regards to the physics of chains... but this does not mean that I prefer the clip type keeper....

A properly fitted and designed chain would not be decreased in strength due to the metal taken out of the pin for the keeper because the load is borne by the side plate. So all the force applied to the chain would be felt by the barrel of the pin terminating at the edge of the part which the keeper is designed to keep in place......

However, because I know how hard it is to get close fitting things apart which have been even accidentally swaged...and having seen some clips come off of motorcycle chains when they messed with tree limbs or the like.... If it were really important... for the chain to stay in place... I would carefully peen it....

I would be horrified if I dropped the chain because the shop manual is pretty clear about one not wanting to do that...

With a proper anvil, a flat punch, and a small hammer NO force should make it to the camshaft sprocket. This is not a situation like a blacksmith encounters where he needs to " strike while the iron is hot " . So there is no speed factor here... place the punch and anvil and strike... place the punch and anvil and strike, place the punch and anvil and strike... Greg