You are apparently aware of the potential for a problem or else you wouldn't have asked the question Dave. I wouldn’t think that it would be a problem, as long as you're using a new dead soft, i.e., fully annealed, copper seal to start with. That smooth sealing surface presents a greater surface area therefore you need to apply more torque to get a good seal.
The object of the rings of course, is to bite into the seal at a lower torque value to seal the same area. If you used the same torque values for both surfaces the one with the grooves will seal a larger area.
And yes, they do cut corners where ever they can with the after market parts available today. .
DG
