Great points. My memory is not great, but it's getting stimulated here - long ago I twisted a cap like this off an old meer, and the meer at the top of the mortise broke off in places. So it's probably best to leave this one alone. The bowl could be made to look very nice, and the stem has just minimal chatter, so I hate to leave it with a dented up ferrule, but it will have to be.If that's the case, you've got double the surface area binding the silver to the meerschaum. May be why it's a bit tricky. i don't know how much "give" is in the shank but as you squeeze the silver to remove you may be tightening it on the silver mortise. Just thinking out loud here
Thanks for all the great suggestions. I was kind of concerned when I posted that I'd get a bunch of nonsensical or joke responses, but some of these suggestions will definitely come in handy on future pipes.