I use butt covers on both shotgun and rifle. I learned this from Long Hunter, some matches have a stage your long guns vertically with the butt on wooden side walk or somethin like it. The coefficient of friction between a steel butt plate the wood ain't very high. If it slips and falls you could get a DQ. SASS is trying to get all clubs to stage long guns horizontally on a table, bale of hay, or somethin. But this is goin take awhile, in the mean time I use buttcovers.