Thanks Chuckw,
Interesting thread. Please clarify if you will, are all Peterson's army mount?
I have a Sherlock Holmes that has a silver band, but the tenon fits into the shank just like any other type of pipe. Push pull, vulcanite on wood. I too am hesitant to remove the stem while the pipe is hot, for fear of loosening the stem with time.
I have refrained from picking up anymore Peterson's because my experience with the several that I have owned, has been that they smoke wet. That, and the inabitity to run a pipe cleaner through the stem into the bowl to stop the gurgling, made smoking one a real pain.
I was aware of the military mount being made to avaoid that little problem for the troops, and at one time was considering buying another with the army mount, ( metal covered stem ) but then I came across an article that stated that Peterson was allowing putty fills, even on some of their higher grade pipes. The article ( it's been about 10 years or so now, so I don't have the article any longer ) went on to state that when Peterson pipes was asked about this, that they responded with " we never guaranteed that there wouldn't be any fills in our pipes" or something to that effect.
I remember getting out my magnifying glass and checking the one Sherlock Holmes that I have, and thank goodness, couldn't find any fills, but that made me very leary of getting anymore Peterson pipes.
The Pipe that I have kept still smokes wet, and is a real pain to put up with the gurgling, but it fits my hand so well, and has the name of one of my favorite literary characters on it, that I have kept it.
Are you saying that all Peterson's were made to avoid the stem loosening? If that's the case, it would really relieve my mind to know that I wouldn't be damaging the pipe by taking it apart in mid smoke, and cleaning the moisture out.
I would be able to enjoy this pipe of mine even more than I do now, as I rarely smoke it anymore, because of that problem.
I hope this isn't too long of a question. I will also post a picture of my Sherlock Holmes. Also, your collection of pipes if very impressive. Thanks for taking the time to post such an interesting thread.