The fun continues. I made a half-moon washer out of 1/8" thick aluminum that now duplicates the front end of the plate, ending just at the magazine well. The plate is installed in its normal fashion, and the aluminum half-moon installs on top of the plate. Together, the thicknesses of the plate and half-moon piece make a very stout metal that spans across the poorly bored wood hole and the bolt head now has a good solid bearing surface. It looks kind of neat, if do say so myself. It's just ahead of the magazine which extends twice as far from the stock anyway, so the half-moon and bolt head are not intrusive. If I paint it black, it will be barely noticeable.