Goodsteel, while machining a Green Mountain 1.270" round blank into the heavy octagon barrel for my High Wall I was amazed at the ease with which even a heavy barrel can be deflected. With about 3/4 of this 32" barrel extending past the steady rest on my lathe I had my dial indicator set up at the muzzle and by gently pushing with my finger tips I could get .020 to .030 deflection with almost no effort at all! It's no wonder the wood in a stock has such a profound effect on accuracy.
As far as barrels being bent what really matters is the sight alignment with the bullet trajectory, theoretically a barrel could be shaped like a pretzel and shoot straight if the sights were aligned with the path of trajectory after the bullet leaves the muzzle, but of course a large bend creates more problems that just sight alignment.