I read your post about uncut rods not being dangerous with interest. Do you have any hard facts that could back it up? If this was the case, why did they start putting the relief cut in the rod? From my understanding, any sharp corner will be a stress point. From what I have read, you may be able to fire a significant amount of rounds with an uncut rod before it fails. However, maybe the guys before you fired that significant amount and you will be the one to have the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a failed rod. I understand that at some point any material will fatigue and fail, but why would you stack the odds against yourself? In any event the rods do have collectable value. Just my opinion, I am by no means a gunsmith.