Reload practices in the field without slide lock

[IanD]

The majority of modern rifles on the battlefield today have no hold open, because the majority of rifles on the modern battlefield, generally speaking, are Kalashnikovs. I would imagine that during WW2 the instruction would be kept simple - if it goes click, reload it as quickly as possible, while taking cover. There was much less adherence to managing precisely how things would be done then, then there is now. I'm not saying people were smarter then, just that folks generally didn't need a step by step procedure from an authority figure in order to get things done. I've run my Howa exactly as I would run an AK, and it works very well - not as fast as an AR, but it does work fine with a little practise.