Ok, orange, black, silver, plastic, metal, green, aluminum, holes in the end, no holes, little bumps, flat, the list goes on and on...

As far as I can tell, and as far as I have shot with shotguns over the last 35+ years, I can't remember ever having a follower hang up on me and a round not load, regardless of semi-auto or pump.  I can see putting a hole in the middle of a follower to eliminate the possibility of drag due to suction or a vacuum forming, but if you do put a hole in it, then try to use a plug, the plug could get stuck.

Anyone actually have personal experience with a factory follower hanging up on you and willing to share?

The hole should never be that big. Factory plugs are all larger than .25" so no problem there.

In the gun shop we kept dowel rods to make plugs for whatever but I prefer plastic plugs (if you need one).

Gunsmithing in Lafayette I've seen many stuck followers but the only ones whose design contributed to the failure were because their material was plastic. This isn't enough by itself however... It had to be in contact with solvent to deform/warp it, or exposed to a high level of heat (like a house fire).

Even the $5 Remington plastic orange followers are fine and generally hold up for multiple decades (assuming the above doesn't happen to them). The solvents in normal gun cleaning products don't do this, so those Cajuns must've used some crazy stuff. lol

(There were also many weird chemicals mixed in with the Hurricane Katrina flood waters, so that got some too. It also damaged steel, aluminum, etc.)

I really like Remington's old machined (lathe turned) aluminum followers from the 1950s but that level of construction quality & material is completely unnecessary.
Mostly the ones sold today are just a marketing gimmick. They work, but primarily they're designed to separate you from your money.

If your follower works fine now then you don't need another one.

Usually when the simple orange/black plastic followers wear out, it's because of many scratches all around the side (like from not cleaning the gun for years) and eventually enough physical deformation from foreign material will cause it to hang against that (friction) within the tube, or malfunction simply due to being deformed from repeatedly impacting foreign debris. (Again, this takes years of neglect.)

The only reason I've swapped out followers in the past is to put colored ones in place of the black ones.

@kitbuilder
@bodybagger

Agreed, thanks for a very well thought out and detailed explanation.  I think I might drill a small hole in the factory ones I have, but not worry about it otherwise.

This

Or 922 compliance when applicable.

I bought a billet follower for my maverick recently. It's a new gun and after I shoot it till empty the follower seems stuck, requires a lot of force to insert the first round. I've owned several maverick and never had that problem, so I bought the follower to give it a try. Haven't installed it yet.

Shotguns are my main use guns and I've put 10s of thousands of rounds through them over the years without any issues with either plastic or aluminum followers.

I put NDZ follower in my 20 gauge 18.5" Mossberg.  It would stick on loading.  Disassembled, cleaned..OEM follower was rough.  Probably could have buffed it up and been fine.  I wanted to upgrade my safety so bought the enhanced follower/safety combo deal.  The NDZ follower is nice quality, loading is smooth.  No way to prove but it feels like is feeds easier too.  $15....

I picked up a Turknelli M4 clone. It came with a five round tube and a black follower. I swapped the tube out for an American made seven round tube and an aftermarket follower.

I did the follower for two reasons -
- 922r compliance
- Red for higher visibility

Haven't done anything yet. It feels like the follower gets stuck in the shell stops somehow. I push real hard then it snaps free.

Just figured out that nobody makes hi-viz followers for the BPS.  You can find them everywhere for Remington, lots of places for Mossberg and Benelli/Stoeger, but absolutely nobody seems to have them for the BPS.  Thinking of just throwing a dash of orange paint on the flat end of the follower.  

I don't bother with hi-viz followers. I like being able to operate & reload my weapons in total darkness, so I learn how the follower feels.
Even with gloves on, you should be able to feel the curvature at the side (unless your gloves are too thick).

Also, if it goes click... nothing wrong with just assuming you need to reload.
It doesn't hurt to open the action and check for a shell if you're unsure however.

I have had the factory follower get hung up at the junction with an extension. I went with a longer metal one and no more problems.