Dear Sirs,

This is a very interesting interchange of information and as tone and nuances cannot be conveyed adequately while posting I'd be a little more "thick skinned".

Outlandish (as in bizarre or unfamiliar) doesn't sound as needing apologies, but...

Anyway, I am far from being an engineer, but the example of dents and their repair does seem to grant the fact that the barrel's safety won't necessarily suffer from an "outwards dent".

Am I very out of touch here? If I need correcting go ahead, I am humble enough in my ignorance.

JC

"...it is always advisable to perceive clearly our ignorance."ť Charles Darwin