I play a lot of Harec (fite me), and it's a valid concern.
First off, if I take a shot at a distant enemy, zoom out, and there's a shotgunner while I'm stuffing another bullet in? I get to pull
a squirrel with my cover... if I even can. Some places are too open or too compressed, or there are simply too many guys swarming the area from every angle.
Second, Harec and Shae can and will remain quite possibly the worst in melee, unless you count corner pouncing. Their total HP and resistance ensure this. Their Stress Meter is there basically for show as a balance, meaning they can shift position unmolested of they're good enough. Until they pull the trigger... Then everyone knows where they are, and now they can't defend themselves because they're reloading.
Third, I'm gimped in helping teammates. This makes the game harder for YOU, too. I have to decide if I'm going to take a shot at a group of three encroaching me and my teammate, or jump into a 3-on-2 melee fight. I can't take the shot, kill one with it, then jump in and make the melee fight not terrible for that teammate. It's take the shot, or take the melee risk. Combine that with the above "they are the worst at melee." I'd
really like to be able to help that teammate completely rather than having to choose rock and hard place.
My 2 cents is to
interrupt the reload, as it says. You'll have to start the reload entirely over again if you interrupt it with a melee move. For Shae, it'd interrupt the vent. With Shae, too, it could actually provide some meta based on her weapon pressure (some weapons perform better with higher pressure, so players could actually manipulate this to improve her performance there).