Take the plate out. Turn it upside down, lay it on a smooth surface like a thick sheet of steel or vise. Peen it with a hammer to enlarge it where it is sloppy. Then refit it to the stock. Simple. Most so called gun makers suffer from the notion that wood is the only thing you can change or alter. All master gun makers work with the metal as much as the wood. No offence intended. Don't peen on the exterior surface. It won't be any uglier than it is now.
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Sloppy sideplate
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that is a great thought, my friend bought an H ASTON, US, military horse pistol that BUNNA, screwed the stock to attach it to a pine board to hang it up on the wall. that is just what he did, matched the walnut stock color with a furniture wax crayon, and it looks like it had a dent in it. it rely does work.
Something slipped while I was tracing my latest sideplate, I didn't catch it until it was too late. I inletted the plate much too high, neither of the lock bolts lined up, they wouldn't even go in the holes.
Patch time, 9 in all and some reinletting. I have added a shim or two in the past but never so many. I can make them disappear on the finished gun and have in the past but still hate it I made such an error.
The way to add shims it to glue them in the inlet vastly oversized with superglue. Some of these are just slivers which are impossible to glue in a gap. I glue a piece about 1/8" thick and way to tall so I can get pressure on it to have a good bond on the glueing surface. After the glue sets I trim off the excess for a tight fit.
Patch time, 9 in all and some reinletting. I have added a shim or two in the past but never so many. I can make them disappear on the finished gun and have in the past but still hate it I made such an error.
The way to add shims it to glue them in the inlet vastly oversized with superglue. Some of these are just slivers which are impossible to glue in a gap. I glue a piece about 1/8" thick and way to tall so I can get pressure on it to have a good bond on the glueing surface. After the glue sets I trim off the excess for a tight fit.
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Yea, it is pretty large. Can you engrave? Maybe turn the hideous thing into a feature... Or you could scribe the Declaration of Independence on it. Seriously, I think you might be able to do something creative with it.
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I'm befuddled as to why someone would spend the time in engraving and getting everything else ok and then put that plate on there. It really does look like it was done by two different people.
I have actually known one or two people who have come into possession of a quality gun like that and then proceeded to "make it Better". 
That is the best way to fix it IMHO and the way I would do it. Any other will still stand out like a sore thumb. That gun needs a shorter and narrower side plate. Or no side plate with ferrules for the screws and carving to match the rest of the stock.
I just showed this to my wife and she said OMG, if the builder did that she bets it is to cover up a bad flaw in the stock. She said she would make a wood inlay to fit and glue it in then carve it to match the butt with proper flat head screws with the ferrules. I knew why I have kept her around for 40 years.
She has pulled my bacon out of the fire several times when I was restoring old guns.
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Can I drop it off at your house?That is the best way to fix it IMHO and the way I would do it. Any other will still stand out like a sore thumb. That gun needs a shorter and narrower side plate. Or no side plate with ferrules for the screws and carving to match the rest of the stock.
I just showed this to my wife and she said OMG, if the builder did that she bets it is to cover up a bad flaw in the stock. She said she would make a wood inlay to fit and glue it in then carve it to match the butt with proper flat head screws with the ferrules. I knew why I have kept her around for 40 years.
Sure if you aren't in a hurry for it and are close to NW AR.
I've done a few old rifle restorations , and more than a few modern made rifle restorations. One tool I've found very useful is a brown color magic marker for fixing scratches in furniture. It covers epoxie/wood repair imperfections very well. Have an old friend who has been professionally precarving m/l gun stocks near 50 years. Over the years , I've inherited some of his " errors in process". The price was always good and couldn't be passed up. It's been fun and educational fixing these into serviceable m/l guns. What makes this so interesting is when the piece is finished , no one has to know what was done to make everything right. If you get to disassemble a few original , that might be classified as commonly made basic rifles , the outside might look worn though over all well made . But due to the tools used to assemble the gun and the speed in which it was produced , the internal wood surfaces are rough to say the least. The original maker might say , "What do you expect for 20 deer skins ?" Guns have to look good and shoot accurately. Sorry guys ,got into the weeds again.......... oldwood
If it can be fixed, it's not a mistake.
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Unless you have serious skills you will probably not make it it look any better. IF it were mine I might rework the whole stock including replacing the side plate wood in it's entirety and making a better sideplate. Doing that requires skills, materials and tools the most do not have.
That said, lots of originals were pretty terrible looking. I'd leave it alone and enjoy it. I might even let it get even more rustic. You could get comments on shooting that original rifle?
That said, lots of originals were pretty terrible looking. I'd leave it alone and enjoy it. I might even let it get even more rustic. You could get comments on shooting that original rifle?
It ain’t perfect but I’ve seen more then one original that had similar fit. And if I was making it mine would be pretty close to this.
Sign in a local auto repair shop........"MISTAKES WERE MADE , OTHERS WILL BE BLAMED"........Owner of the shop has a priceless dry sense of humor. I must have a sick mind too , I think the sign is very funny...........oldwood
