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Tactical reload - there is a round in the chamber: There is no need to rack the slide; in fact, you will waste time and lose a round if you operate the slide.
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No kidding.
I've watched as different guys came back from some outside training venues and automatically ran their slides after doing a tac-load (w/retention) ... only to eject the live chambered round. On top of that, the "1-size-fits-all-situations" drilled response cost them an extra 1-2 seconds before they got off their next shot on the threat target. (Sometimes a shot timer can reveal things some folks might not expect.) That can be a long time where there's the potential for 'in-coming' rounds while a weapon is being unnecessarily manipulated.
Then, I've also seen folks running traditional double action (DA/SA) pistols, with decocking functions, stop to "decock" their cocked hammers after a tac-load before they fired their next intended shot on a threat target.
That took them extra time, too, and they were often surprised when they saw the timer results (as it apparently didn't "feel" like it had taken any extra time to perform an unnecessary manipulation).
And, yes, I've also seen how an extra bit of unnecessary slide manipulation has sometimes introduced the potential for an unexpected "shooter induced" stoppage at an inopportune moment.
Being a long time 1911 owner/shooter, I come from a time when it was commonly taught to release a locked-back slide using the slide stop lever, and I do it without stopping to think about it, on a variety different pistol makes/models. Worked just fine while carrying issued S&W 3rd gen guns for going on 25 years, too (since they had ambi safety/decocking levers on the slides).
Training for circumstances being 'variable", though, I've also trained to run loading manipulations using my non-dominant hand, as well as clearing stoppages with both 1 & 2 hands.
Doesn't mean I didn't complain about being required to learn & perform different techniques as a younger firearms instructor, as the head instructor was a stickler for skills development and adaptability. I stopped minding the extra time spent on those drills after finding myself using a SIG DA/SA gun converted for Simunition at an outside class, where I found myself having to ID & clear a double-feed ... while diving onto the floor underneath a table during an "ambush" by a couple of "attackers". Didn't have to stop and think about it. Upon my return to my agency range, I thanked the head instructor for all those annoying practice sessions.
