Stingers are the bane of my existence. Most of my pipes are estates I bought in lots and refurb'd to a nice smokeable condition, and the first thing I do when I encounter a stinger is extract it. I have a baggie full of stingers that maybe I'll sell on ebay some day in hopes of finding some oddball passionate collector of pipe stingers.

I have no problem at all modifying a pipe from its factory condition to make it more attuned to my preferences.