I don’t need to do a mindless routine to figure out what’s wrong with the gun; if I had to depend on the gun I’d make sure the magazine is inserted properly ahead of time. Also I can tell if the gun magazine isn’t inserted properly. Other possible issues like FTF and FTE are also easy to just by looking at the gun (slide would be out of battery) and if that’s the case I’d manually rack the slide. So that leaves only one possible issue - light strike. Pulling the trigger the second time takes less time then racking the slide AND then pulling the trigger on the new round. And you can always have your hand ready to rack the slide if it becomes nessesary.
Your intended use of the firearm might be different than mine or that of another. If you intend to rely on your pistol to defend life than squeezing the trigger again is a sure way to lose. If you shoot paper and aren't concerned with your time or score then feel free to execute any number of illogical movements that fail to address the most probable issue at hand.
A second trigger pull is faster than tap rack, no doubt. However if the second squeeze doesn't solve the problem, you're right back to square one if you've survived long enough to try and fix the problem a second time. You could observe your pistol and attempt to diagnose the problem visually. Of course you already knew that won't work in the dark, and becomes increasingly difficult when your cornea flattens due to adrenaline and your vision is impaired. Why default to a remedial action that doesn't solve the problem? Why attempt to discharge a round that has already proven to be unreliable? Why assume that the problem is a light strike/hard primer when the problem is probably an improperly seated magazine. Why assume a light strike/hard primer when the problem could also be a failure to feed from a bad magazine, an empty gun due to slide not locking back, a class 2 malfunction or a slide slightly out of battery. Why not execute a tap rack and solve multiple problems with one drill.
Tap Rack solves the following:
improperly seated magazines
empty gun due to bad magazines, riding the slide lock, broken slide lock
class 2 malfunctions(stovepipes or similar failures)
bad ammo(which gets cycled out of the gun)
Second strike has the POTENTIAL to solve only one problem.
Hard primers. If that is indeed the problem. If the problem is anything other than hard primers a second strike is simply wasting time and complicating your solution process.
Again, if you shoot paper a second strike of the primer is fine. If your intention is to defend life, its not. Its called a poor tactic and will get someone killed. Its your choice.
TDC
(fwiw I would want a DA/SA as well if I had to pick a gun for combat).
