I got asked about this in regards to the Pincus thread, so I figured I would do an open post with my Nomex on.
We teach two reloads-
1. The In-battery speed reload-done when you need to reload your pistol in a fight or when speed is of the essence-should be no controversy here.
2. The Tactical reload-done when you want to fully load your pistol and there is enough of a lull in the action to retain the partial magazine.
The Tactical reload is done for many reasons and people often are using it in places that it may not be the way to go. I use it to fully load my pistol prior to holstering. Why would you want to holster a pistol in which you have no idea about how many rounds are left in it. Does your crystal ball tell you that you couldn't possibly be in another fight? In one shooting my partner and I were in, we were at one point surrounded by a very large crowd of outraged ghetto rats that were upset about killing one of their beloved. We ended up in a pretty violent altercation after the shooting. I have several cases of this. We didn't carry a metric ton of ammunition, so it was an issue to maintain what you had. Before I hear "well I am not a cop, so this doesn't matter"....really.....you will never get in a shooting with someone in a bad area, or their home turf...interesting? I will steal a P-Mac term....I look at the tac load as a "good habit" prior to holstering as an "enabler and never a disabler". Is it ever going to be a "bad" thing to holster a fully loaded gun, or to fully load your pistol if you have cover and time? Now, if you are in the middle of a fight, the in-battery speed reload is better. If you are not in a fight right this second, but need more ammunition, the Tac-reload is a great option. I prefer the traditional tac-reload done at the gun, some people are better served with a reload with retention where the magazine is removed, stowed and a new one retrieved and loaded into the pistol. I use the reload with retention with my heel release P7's, so I am good with whatever works for you.
Wait......what about the out of battery speed-reload, or "combat reload". I call it what it is:
Shooter induced malfunction. You shot the gun to the point that in no longer functions because it is out of ammunition. Diagnose it and fix it. Pretty simple. It is a common issue. I think most would agree it is not a good idea to shoot to slide lock, so we don't encourage it. We show you how to diagnose and fix it, but we look at it as a very negative situation, and teach it as something to "avoid", and not something that "will happen". I found that when I stopped teaching it as a "normal" thing, and made it a negative thing to be avoided, the folks I trained stopped having this type of malfunction......weird how people revert to their training on this stuff.