Good points, Shawn. Were I not a dinosaur, recalling when even military rifles lacked PGs, I'd do the same. However, my ancient reflexes are grooved in,and I do fine with my standard stocks.
As for folders....
My agency opened a new prison in 1981, and we had about 6 weeks to train and qualify over 200 new officers on the 38, shotgun and Mini 14. Some genius at HQ had decreed that we didn't need no STEENKING towers, but that having what they euphemistically called "Rapid Response Vehicles" on the perimeter would suffice. The vehicles were Chevettes, and they obtained folders for some 870s and told us to get them qualified PDQ. 200 rookies, 3-5 instructors, one useless training officer,a few truckloads of ammo(big trucks of ammo) and it was summer in Md.
The rookies were a mixed bag, with few veterans, some dopers and drunks, quite a few friends and relations of the convicts, and some sterling individuals. The big hangup in qualification(besides the usual Bozo Factor) was that folder. Us instructors had to qualify to 90% to stay an instructor, and I had to work harder with that folder to do so. We also had to give demos to the rookies, and as a mere Sgt I was the one out there in the heat. So, I got lots of practice with the folder.
Most of the rookies found it hard to qualify with the folder. A couple got their faces cut from that early factory folder, and Remington recalled them and gave us replacements with fewer sharp edges. There were a few lawsuits.
The other problem with those folders was the butt was of smallish dimensions, and one rookie with shotgun experience likened it to having someone try to hammer a canoe paddle into his shoulder.
I took one buxom rookie to the Emergency room, she had on one of the old style bras with a little metal buckle on the strap. Yup, it cut the heck out of her,and she insisted on showing it to the whole darn firing line. Nothing like a little blood to get morale down...
A few years later, sanity broke out, towers were erected, and the folders were taken off line to a collective sigh of relief from all concerned.
Finally, it's ironic that the AR series of rifles, with the .223 cartridge that recoils very little, has a better stock design for handling recoil than serious shotguns do.
