Thats an interesting theory I've never heard of before and if it were a real issue I'm sure Bowen, Linebaugh, and Reeder would be doing it or they would be doing warranty work all the time. I'm sure during recoil the gate may try to shift some as it's only held in place by a flat spring but that spring would break before a gate would actually flex. Not to mention I don't know a whole lot of people that only load one round. I suppose if you were on the bench you could but why? I'm sorry but that dosn't hold water. To stiffen it to where it would do anything the cylinder to gate clearance would have to be 0. I've heard about the brass issue mentioned above before but never that. I'm not saying I know everything as I am new to the business end but I own quite a few big bores and have never seen any indication of an issue there. Physics are physics and this dosn't add up, look at a gate spring and a gate and think about which would give first.