main studs vs bolts

I would like to hear from some BUILDERS on this myself, because I have my own opinion based on my own experience. Not saying I am right or wrong...

Case in point, my 360 in my truck...

It makes about 340ish whp n/a (through an od trans which is about a 23 pct loss) to begin with and I have nitroused the living crap out of it for years on the factory main bolts without a single problem. Engine still runs just fine. The rings are a bit tired now, but being shocked about this would be kind of dumb on my part.

This is easily well over 400 whp and a lot of flywheel torque with high shock loads in a heavy vehicle, so by that virtue I would think for someone with the average 450-550 horse N/A 408 in a light A-body with a lot less torsional stress and not near as much shock to the caps, main bolts, especially the aftermarket ARP BOLT is all that's necessary.

If anyone would like to outline what makes studs so much better than a bolt besides the "they promote even clamping force" statement I hear repeated everywhere, I am all ears.

I understand a line hone might correct any main bore distortion brought on by a fastener that exerts a "different" amount of clamping force on a cap, be it more/less, or a different load distribution, but so far I never get a good enough answer.

I see a lot of people going through the extra expense and hassle of line boring, and studs when I'm almost certain it's not necessary in their case. what I would like to hear is some kind of established guideline for when you DO need them, and when you DONT need them instead of all the ooga booga that flies around where everyone thinks they need them.

I dont think everyone does need them, and I think if you are at a point where you do need them you should be using an r block with 4 of them anyway. But what do they come with? Oh yeah....Bolts! lol

Anyone?

Good question stroker valiant, and I hope this spurs some good discussion we can benefit from.