That's exactly what I needed. Thanks Kuduae.
Is the distance you quoted from the center to the stud measured from the center of the screw hole to the center of the stud, or from edge to edge? Looking at the design, I don't think it's a critical dimension, but might as well be as accurate as possible.

Squarebridge, Sadly I don't think there are any safari's in my near future! Someone else already recommended Lon Paul and I'm definitely not discounting having a professional look at the rifle. But without any intention of disrespect to the pros around here, there's quite a bit that I'm capable of, and past experiences with specialists have often left me disappointed with the level of attention to detail that some of them have. I generally approach specialty services with caution and ask a lot of questions before I ever get started so that I'm well enough versed to catch on if things start to go amiss.

I was just going to install one of the several metal sight blades in place of the one that's in it... I hadn't thought about making another bone/plastic (or whatever it is) one... Wouldn't be all that tough. I like the idea! In terms of the hood, I'd probably either not use it at all, or leave it installed full time. I just like the idea of having all the original accessories. The rear knob (disc?) is much higher on my list of priorities than the hood though. And I tend to work very slow on this kind of thing. I've got a little savage OU sitting in my safe that's been waiting for me to finish making a new extractor for it for about 8 months now.