[TowerTalk] Connector on 7/8 Heliax

[Doug Ronald, W6DSR]

I have a Cablewave factory made 7/8" coax cable I want to shorten. The label
on the cable is C371-21-27 1 16733-8L.1003-00 4-100.
The male N-connector I have disassembled from one end. It has P/N 734707,
and the other end is 734706, the difference being in the Schrader air valve
connection. The connector is in 3 parts. The N-connector side is a slip-fit
over the center conductor which is a copper tube about 1/4" in diameter.
Then there is a nut about 40 mm long which screws into the N-connector piece
from the coax side.
Securely on the outer coax conductor that the nut goes over the top of is my
problem part. This part is extremely well fitted to the corrugations of the
heliax, with a rubber O-ring on the N-connector side. This brass part is
about 22 mm long, perfectly smooth around the circumference, and absolutely
unmovable on the coax.
My question is about how this was made. I fear the ring which I will need to
remove to shorten the coax was swaged on there, and will not be removable.
Is that true, or might I be able to remove it somehow.
If the connector is not usable, how would I find an available connector to
install on the cable? The cable's dielectric is 6 plastic tubes running the
length of the coax, concentric around the center conductor. Since I have
this cable, I would really like to reuse it, but it is 162 feet, and I only
need about 30 feet.
Thanks anyone,
-Doug, W6DSR