I have bent several the same way, except that I put a thin piece of hardwood on top of the barrel to eliminate the chance of the barrel kinking or bending all in one spot. The other thing that I did was to put some spacers under the barrel to use as a stopping point so as not to over bend it. Then eliminate a spacer and rebend until I got the right amount of bend. This takes away the chance of over bending, and gives you a certain amount of control. It worked for me.
