The release of those orange rings was a plesant suprise. Just be gentle so that you don't scratch the bottom barrel. I used the equivilent of a flat edge screw driver on my Swiss Army knife and just gently worked it under the rim and the bottom ring just popped right off (and was not connected to anything other than the outside of the barrel).
I highly suggest doing what I did with the upper barrel (as posted on the previous page) Seriously, once I saw condensation forming on the dark part, I pulled it out of the water (not more than 30 seconds), flipped it over, used a kitchen towel and just twisted. The heat allowed for the piece to come off cleanly and didn't leave any glue residue on the barrel.
One thing to note - neither the barrel nor the orange tips are threaded, so which ever way is easiest for you to twist it to break it free is fine and won't make any difference.
One more thing - depending on where you live, you may want to keep the rings so that if you decide to take your PR out in public, the cops as well as the general populous won't get crazy and shoot YOU thinking it's real!!!
LOL!!