Nope, still comes off quite easily.
Unscrew the tailcap and put it aside. The ring unscrews from the tube in the same direction (CCW) as the tailcap. Once removed, you’ll see 2 sets of threads, finer and farther-in for the ring and coarser and at the end of the tube for the tailcap. It might “stick” as part of it goes over the O-ring, but that’s just a little resistance, nothing binding or anything.
Then again, maybe yours is glued in, dunno.
And I think I misspoke about the gap. Just seems like an intentional cut in the tube for decoration or whatnot, as it’s not an unintended gap. Hard to see on all-black metal…
Thinking, though… Pry off the clip. I did that to mine (immediately!), and maybe that added some relief to the ring, letting it “breathe” with some extra room. If I’m not mistaken, it’s as if the ring holds down the clip in a way, even though the ‘C’ part wraps more than halfway around the tube.
I’d still rather completely remove the ring, but having exposed threads like that would just collect dust’n’dirt, especially after being lubed. So, unless/until I can get a plain ring like the L2 uses, I’ll keep it on.