Thank you!  I'm thrilled to know that Brand is not as important as hardness.  I have a couple of smaller sets that have bent rather than snapped.  I also have had one in another set snap and I think both were trying to help rather than hurt.

I'll try a tip or two and see if I have any luck without using too much force. 

Should I remove the bolt before separating the metal from the stock?  I will have to remove it a some point, but I'm not prepared to get too involved with that until I read about the strength I might need to take the bolt apart and vice versa.

Thank you, again.