Wow... I go away for a couple of days and come back to this
Eux, save yourself some grief... don't make a mountain out of a mole hill.
I support how the NROI Canada Website answers this question:
The answer is not in the rule book. What is recommended is that you tell the Ranger Officer at the beginning of the stage that you require a magazine in the firearm in order to drop the hammer on an empty chamber. The magazine that you use to do this should be empty. Communication is the key. Make sure that the Range Officer is informed.
The rule book states competitor has to perform a final safety check which includes:
8.3.7.1. Self-loaders – release the slide and pull the trigger (without touching the hammer or decocker, if any).
I don’t care what means the competitor uses to make it possible for competitor to drop the hammer by pulling the trigger.
I have seen guys use unloaded mags, loaded mags, their finger… hell, even a Popsicle stick.
At the point that a competitor is ready to deactivate a mag catch safety, YOU and the competitor have already witnessed a mag being removed from the gun, a live round ejected from the chamber, LOOKED at an empty chamber and watched the slide go forward on an EMPTY chamber.
If after hammering down, the gun goes bang… the competitor has failed, YOU as an official have failed, but God has not.
And the competitor pays the ultimate price for the mistakes of two.