Axle shaft headaches, any help?

I hope somebody can help. I just replaced the motor in my '98. (252K on the original engine, manual tranny and clutch. Best car I've ever owned.) I'm an old V-8 rear drive dinosaur so this was my first front drive experience. I've got her almost back together but I can't get the driver's side axle shaft to go back into the diff. When I pulled the drivetrain I put dowel plugs in the diff to keep the drive gears from dropping into the tranny case. The passenger side went in just fine. I positioned the driver's side with the circlip at the top just like the manual said and it seems to go part way into the drive gear but it stops about 3/4 of an inch from seating fully. Being from the neanderthal generation my first instinct is to reach for the BFH but I'm thinking there must be a trick that I'm missing. Anybody run into this?

For anybody who reads this in the future..... I spoke to a relative who is a Ford service manager. He assured me that there is no trick to it. Some axles just go in easier than others. What I did was put the car in gear. The shaft would turn freely until it popped in about 3/8". This represents the amount of axle between the circlip and the end. Evidently the circlip was hanging up on the splines. Once the axle wouldn't turn I knew the splines were engaged. From there a few tap with the BFH and it slid into place.

good to know, i honestly never had that issue w/ my car