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Interesting topic, and good to be aware of the muzzle at all times. I was taught to bring the gun in close to reload but you have to take care with the muzzle. You can't argue that if the slide is locked back it's the same as propping a rifle, open breech, with its muzzle up. In a reload with a round chambered the gun is ready to go. It would be horrible tactics to either engage a safety for a reload or point the gun in an unsafe direction.

Personally, I vote for dropping the slide with the weak hand thumb. That's where the weak thumb should be, anyway, and any other means of cycling the action is a little artificial. In use, the slide is in free fall from the point it starts to travel forward.

The slingshot doesn't seem the best. Turning the gun, rotating the sights, seems like too much fiddling.

Clearing a stovepipe is a little different, but I'm not sure about safety. Tap the mag, grab the slide in over-the-top method just in front of the ejection port, and sweep the stovepipe out as you release the slide.

In a stovepipe, the gun is out of battery but I'm still queasy about anything "me" getting close to the muzzle.

What's the best way for the time honored tap-rack-bang?