Jeez guys, thanks for all your kind words of encouragement... I'm pretty flattered! Different things appeal to different people, but it's definately a treat to hear that some other folks think it turned out too.
As for how difficult, I'm pretty sure that if I could do it, anyone could. I'm no kind of gunsmith or anything, I just need these kind of tinkering projects as a distraction on those weeknights when my wife insists on watching some reality TV show (no kids). I bought an old lathe and mill for a good price at an estate sale a few years ago and have been slowly teaching myself how to use them. The rest is just a dremel and some hand tools.
Utah, all I did was mill off the "fat" at the back of the reciever without removing any functional length of the locking bar's mortice and then ran a 60-degree, 1.375" dovetail cutter about .150" deep in a ways to create a mortice for the corresponding curves of wood to reside. That 60-degree angle keeps what might otherwise be a rather fragle (~.150" thick) protrusion of walnut nice and snug when the through-bolt is tightened up. Reduced some weight and got to cover one of the trigger group pins.
3sixbits, what's a pierced lever? ... I'm still trying to learn much of the terminology...
