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I use both methods equally. If I'm shooting "casually" on a range, and going to accuracy, I'll usually use the slide stop. When I'm doing "tactical drills", I will alternate between the slide stop and manually racking the slide. Both methods have their use on the 1911.
I think that using the slide stop makes for quicker and smoother reloads (for me), but there are times when manually racking the slide to release it are more appropriate, such as when clearing a malfunction (tap-rack-bang), or doing reloads from an empty mag.
I have long fingers and big (but not beefy) hands, so reaching all the controls on a standard 1911 is easy and natural for me. But for guns with a slide-mounted safety switch (like the Beretta 92, or the Walthers) I sometimes find that releasing the slide by racking it puts my "off hand" up where it needs to be to more easily release the safety to continue fire.
So I guess it depends on what I'm doing, and what I'm shooting, as to which method I'll use. But I try and use them both, so I have muscle memory for both techniques, and can use them both as needed in a "real-world" situation...