Mike,
Thanks for the critique and sadly, you are right, there is a wedge but it is in the shape of the hooks.
With the slider in place the rear claw fits very tightly. This is because it is the second one I made after removing too much metal from the feet of the first and over caution prevailed with the second. I found, however, that with the slider removed that I have what appears to be a proper snug fit.
I removed what you are calling the slider and it is pictured below with other claw bases I had on hand to study as best I could. My effort is the bottom one that is on the scope. Visualizing precisely how the claws worked without benefit of the respective bases to study is a bit of an abstraction.
Anyway, I'm all ears and hope you can take time to walk me through what I hope is final fitting without the necessity of making a new slider.
Thanks in advance.
I've added two additional photos. I hope this will help you diagnose what needs to be done. It appears that by leveling the notch in the hooks that this will allow the slider to mate correctly with the hook cuts, move fully forward and then allow the new claw set to seat properly.
The first photo shows the slider slot with the base fully seated. You can see how much the hooks protrude above the the lower surface of the slot.
The second shows how far the slider needs to move to be fully forward seated.
