Thanks y'all for the tips. It's funny how the most obvious answer (make a bigger side plate) is the one you never thought of.
Someone had said to just start over with a new stock. I agree, that would be the easiest thing to do, but I have used this stock as my "test" stock over the years. I don't need it to look pretty, as I have tried my hand at various different things with it over the years.
Birddog6, Well, we did stop in Union City and see the Dixie Gun Works shop, so it wasn't a complete waste of trip. I had bought from them over the years, but I doubt it would have been as cool as Tip's place. Then again, I'm lucky enough to have The Log Cabin shop about 2 hours away, so that's a good consolation prize.
JD, what do you mean by shave down the side panned and glue matching wood to it? What exactly am I shaving down? The brass or the wood? Are you talking about making a wood patch on the stock and then inletting that? Wouldn't that chip up really bad when I try an inlet it again? Can you find thin pieces of maple to even do that with?
Also, I'll try and get a picture of this messed up side plate and post it as my wall of shame.