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There's a major difference between clearing drills and reloading. Yes, clearing a malfunction I would not hit the slide release, because in all likelihood, the slide is not locked back in that case.
On the "reload when you can, not when you have to" philosophy: It depends. What is your most likely scenario as a civilian preventing a crime against yourself or another person? In one sense, this whole discussion goes to something that is very unlikely to happen for anyone here- a sustained engagement that requires more than one magazine. Even if you're carrying a single-stack 1911 with 8 rounds, it's unlikely you'll use them all and need another mag. But if no help is around and the criminal is that determined, I don't think you can afford to waste rounds. How many spare mags do you carry? I'm not bothered to admit, most of the time my spare mag is in the car. It's simply not practical to carry extras a lot of the time.
We're not the US Military with a huge logistical tail to support us. We're not carrying eight 30-round mags strapped to our chest. We don't have buddies around with standardized equipment and support on the way. It would be different if I were a police officer and therefore increasing my chance of a deadly force encounter.
It's entirely possible that even as civilians we may have to engage multiple aggressors, since criminals often work in pairs or teams. So yes, there's a possibility of needing a mag change, and it's always worth doing drills for these kinds of situations. But when you're applying what you learned from books, videos, the Marine Corps or whatever, realize that one size doesn't fit all.
This is a reason why I carry a firearm with a little more capacity. I like the .40 for the reasonable stopping power combined with the higher capacity. It stops almost as well as a .45, but if there are multiple aggressors, I have more rounds available. YMMV.
On the "reload when you can, not when you have to" philosophy: It depends. What is your most likely scenario as a civilian preventing a crime against yourself or another person? In one sense, this whole discussion goes to something that is very unlikely to happen for anyone here- a sustained engagement that requires more than one magazine. Even if you're carrying a single-stack 1911 with 8 rounds, it's unlikely you'll use them all and need another mag. But if no help is around and the criminal is that determined, I don't think you can afford to waste rounds. How many spare mags do you carry? I'm not bothered to admit, most of the time my spare mag is in the car. It's simply not practical to carry extras a lot of the time.
We're not the US Military with a huge logistical tail to support us. We're not carrying eight 30-round mags strapped to our chest. We don't have buddies around with standardized equipment and support on the way. It would be different if I were a police officer and therefore increasing my chance of a deadly force encounter.
It's entirely possible that even as civilians we may have to engage multiple aggressors, since criminals often work in pairs or teams. So yes, there's a possibility of needing a mag change, and it's always worth doing drills for these kinds of situations. But when you're applying what you learned from books, videos, the Marine Corps or whatever, realize that one size doesn't fit all.
This is a reason why I carry a firearm with a little more capacity. I like the .40 for the reasonable stopping power combined with the higher capacity. It stops almost as well as a .45, but if there are multiple aggressors, I have more rounds available. YMMV.