Seems like, if you're using a shotgun defensively, loading the first round that way needlessly complicates the manual of arms and could also magnify operator error under stress, for almost no benefit at all.
Speed? Pull slide back, grab shell, put in ejection port, push slide forward. Versus grab shell, put in magazine, pull slide back, push slide forward. Same number of steps, and only one movement changes. That saves a maximum of what, a quarter second? Less? I honestly can't see any difference in time at all, without using a camera and a stopwatch. The only way you get any noticable speed increase is if you start out with the gun open, which doesn't seem like the best way of storing a defensive gun to me, nor is it a good condition to carry a gun in if you think you may need it in a hurry.
Then the drawbacks. There's a lot more that can go wrong. If you lose track of rounds and the gun's not empty, stuffing one in the ejection port will tie up the gun until you shake the round out. Oops. Putting one in the magazine then racking the slide, worst case you lose only ammo, not time as well.
Sure, you could look in the ejection port after ejecting what you think is your last round, but then you totally negate any possible speed benefit you might've had, and you have to take your eyes off your target, and it doesn't work in the dark. Yes, there's a distinct noise when the magazine releases a round onto the elevator. Do you really want to count on being able to hear that after firing 6, 8, 9, or more shots indoors?
And what if you accidentally end up holding the shell backwards? Loaded into the ejection port, a closed elevator gun will refuse to feed, and then you need to clear the jam. An open elevator gun will allow the shell to dangle partway out the bottom, and is even harder to clear. But if you load a shell backwards into the magazine, the gun just goes "ptooey!" and spits it back out at you. Also, since your thumb is touching the bottom/top of the round, it'd be slightly easier to notice, vs. only touching the side, as when putting one in the ejection port.
Only loading into the tube also simplifies the manual of arms a fair amount. The standard manual of arms gives you "pull slide back, insert shell a different way, push slide forward," for the first step of an empty gun reload. That's three movements which are significantly different from operating the gun normally, since you should never be leaving the slide back any other time (and you should be topping off every chance you get, to keep it from going dry in the first place). One in the tube then rack gives you "insert shell the normal way, press slide release, rack slide the normal way." Only one "new" movement to learn instead of three, and it's something you should be doing every time you handle the gun, anyway!
Really, loading one in the ejection port should only be if you use a shotgun for games, and are required by range rules to keep the action open. Those are the only conditions under which it makes sense. And even then, if you prefer to run the gun the same way everywhere, it only takes 1 extra second (if that) to load the first round from the magazine.
Speed? Pull slide back, grab shell, put in ejection port, push slide forward. Versus grab shell, put in magazine, pull slide back, push slide forward. Same number of steps, and only one movement changes. That saves a maximum of what, a quarter second? Less? I honestly can't see any difference in time at all, without using a camera and a stopwatch. The only way you get any noticable speed increase is if you start out with the gun open, which doesn't seem like the best way of storing a defensive gun to me, nor is it a good condition to carry a gun in if you think you may need it in a hurry.
Then the drawbacks. There's a lot more that can go wrong. If you lose track of rounds and the gun's not empty, stuffing one in the ejection port will tie up the gun until you shake the round out. Oops. Putting one in the magazine then racking the slide, worst case you lose only ammo, not time as well.
Sure, you could look in the ejection port after ejecting what you think is your last round, but then you totally negate any possible speed benefit you might've had, and you have to take your eyes off your target, and it doesn't work in the dark. Yes, there's a distinct noise when the magazine releases a round onto the elevator. Do you really want to count on being able to hear that after firing 6, 8, 9, or more shots indoors?
And what if you accidentally end up holding the shell backwards? Loaded into the ejection port, a closed elevator gun will refuse to feed, and then you need to clear the jam. An open elevator gun will allow the shell to dangle partway out the bottom, and is even harder to clear. But if you load a shell backwards into the magazine, the gun just goes "ptooey!" and spits it back out at you. Also, since your thumb is touching the bottom/top of the round, it'd be slightly easier to notice, vs. only touching the side, as when putting one in the ejection port.
Only loading into the tube also simplifies the manual of arms a fair amount. The standard manual of arms gives you "pull slide back, insert shell a different way, push slide forward," for the first step of an empty gun reload. That's three movements which are significantly different from operating the gun normally, since you should never be leaving the slide back any other time (and you should be topping off every chance you get, to keep it from going dry in the first place). One in the tube then rack gives you "insert shell the normal way, press slide release, rack slide the normal way." Only one "new" movement to learn instead of three, and it's something you should be doing every time you handle the gun, anyway!
Really, loading one in the ejection port should only be if you use a shotgun for games, and are required by range rules to keep the action open. Those are the only conditions under which it makes sense. And even then, if you prefer to run the gun the same way everywhere, it only takes 1 extra second (if that) to load the first round from the magazine.
