Sean, Pete and "Mon Ami", thanks for your collective imput. I knew that I could get the answer from my fellow "Jetsters"!! It has been several years since I built a jet, a BVM Sabre, and my builders' intuition is rusty!! Now I can move on with the build with some confidence that I'm not screwing up. I'll do as you two suggest, Sean and Pete, which will be to auger out the aft opening until it accepts the bottle. If it still doesn't I'll modify the forward bulkhead to fit and get on with it.
The "French" solution could also work or one could go to a smaller 1.89 litre bottle (eg. Aquavina), if a smaller turbine was the powerplant, and avoid the extra work.

Thanks again guys, I hope to be laughing about it soon.

John