The problem is, as long as those clips are in there, he can't remove the axles.. and in order to remove the clips you have to remove the pin. Doesn't matter if he destroys more teeth on the gears.
Normally the pin has to be removed so you can push the axles in, maybe a half inch, that way the C-clips can be removed(genius ).
Simply cutting out the C-clips so the axles can be removed without removing the pin seems logical to me. You can deal with the pin-locker while the diff is out, instead of while it's in the car, which would be a PITAAAAAAA.
Just my .02