Ugh, I hate bolsters of metal! Especially ones that are already on the knife, can't change much w/o serious grinding.
This is a Tojiro Honesuki (DP maybe??) that I redid with red micarta. I have been using 1/8" pin stock for most handles lately, I finally got a #30 drill bit and love how the pin slides right into the hole w/o having to ream the hole or sand the pin down. I haven't looked up the right pin for 3/16" or 1/4" pins yet, but one of these days I will!
If I do the 1/8" pin in an oversized hole, I groove the pin to hold epoxy and make sure the hole is completely filled with epoxy (JB Quik Weld). I will drill the handle material so that the pin is right at the back of the hole closest to the blade and at the front of the pin hole closest to the butt of the handle. This way the handle can't slide back and forth much at all, makes it easier to align. I have carbide bits, but my drill press isn't very tight and precise, so I haven't used them yet.
I agree the bolts are stronger, but I've never had any problems with the pins and epoxy coming off. I tried to redo some of my older knife handles with the quik weld and pins and the handle materials were splitting before the epoxy was letting go. I would take another knife blank with a thin tip, and hammer it into the gap between the handle and tang to split them.