Plugs and 6X hooks

[eskimo]

6X in 4/0 too? No issues with the 4x 4/0 as of yet. I've been going with a 6X belly and a 4X tail hook on pencils and two 6X on swimmers. A few years back they seemed to change when they started rusting much quicker but I never had a issue with bending until now.

[numbskull]

An issue with 6X's is that they often break if you try to cut and bend them. This means using a split ring and the combination of a split ring and heavier hook seems like a lot of extra ballast for thin swimmers.
I have used them on large regular Musso surface swimmers and they do fine. They also seem OK with bottle plugs. Medium Pichney/BM sized swimmers do OK with them, but I've not had luck with the skinny musso style I use predominantly. I think your idea of widening the plug a little is a sound one.