Dale,
Thanks for the kind words. There was no need to make dummy screws because I drilled down deep enough that the regular screws can be re-inserted and they fit flush because I countersunk the tops of the inserts. I forgot to mention in the previous text that one reason I had had so much trouble shooting this gun comfortably at first was that the length of pull was too long for me at 14 3/4 inches. When I installed the Kick Eze recoil pad, I cut the stock so that the gun now has a length of pull of 14 1/4 to the front trigger. That 1/2 inch reduction in pull really helped a whole bunch.
The high dollar sling you see on it was a salvaged sling from an SKS. It was the only one I could find that had end straps narrow enough to fit the sling swivels. It does work well enough for hunting, though. The gripcap was made out of a piece of Buffalo horn that I had left over from knifemaking. Bob H.