Those bent barrels were probably bent by excited young lads being over-enthusiastic when cocking, pulling hard against the limit of the piston's movement rather than just cocking gently until the sear engages.
The .177s are a bit more hold-sensitive than the .22s I find. I prefer the .177s myself, and my .177 Tempest is the pistol I plink with most often, it's sometimes hard to relearn the knack of shooting it when I've not had it out for a while but when I get the knack back again, it's so satisfying, I love it.