Shop project: Front sight riser/base for new 1000 yard rifle

With the help of my gunsmith mentor I've been putting a 6.5/06 rifle together for 1000 yard matches. This rifle is going to be using iron sights and shot all prone. The issue here is that the rear sight mount on this rifle puts the rear sight nearly 1 5/8" above the center line of the bore. The barrel which started out life as a 1.25"x28" blank is now a tapered barrel going down to .850" at the muzzle. The Redfield sights that I am using should parallel with the barrel so I can zero and practice at 200 yards and move out to 1000 yards easily, right now the rifle would shoot about 20' high at 200 yards if the front sight was mounted so low. So I need a front sight base that raises the front globe up about 1/2" roughly or so. Did I mention the first match I plan to shoot the rifle in is in a week? I've only had the action for a month so its been a bit of a race to get everything together. Sadly my mentor is very busy this month so I'm on my own to make a front sight base for this rifle. I'm choosing to make a single piece clamp style out of 6061 Aluminum. Its simple lightweight and pretty straight forward to make.

Note: I used a webcam for the pictures, did not have a camera to use while I was making chips sorry.

The design is a one piece clamp style.

Attempt #1 ended in a off center hole, Yes I could have machined material off the large side but  I chose to just try again, I can always rework the 1st piece.

Muzzle view of the new riser/mount, for a first completed attempt I'm pleased, I could probably remove 1/2-2/3rds of the material and still have a strong base. If I would do that I would get rid of the bottom portion the screws go through and make recessed slots in the body of the riser. Then reduce thickness in the sides and drill some 3/8"  or 1/2" holes in the sides and obliques.




From the front it looks pretty crude...I think it was just the angle, the side view looks a lot better in
my opinion and shows just how bulky it is. Like I said 1st attempt, very utilitarian, may make some modifications with it....then again if it works I may just leave it.