> physically doing a reload action like you would with a real gun
More like physically doing a reload action while wearing a thick pair of well-buttered gloves.
Each game does have small differences in the reloading process, be it pressing a specific button to release the slide or (strangely) pulling the charging handle every reload. Even firearms enthusiasts would have to learn these details.
Beyond that, VR controls are still limited. You have little to no tactile feedback, so you don't intuitively know when you failed to grab the magazine off of your belt or failed to grip the bolt. You have to learn the exact positions and tolerances to avoid slipping up and botching an entire reload in the heat of the moment. I find this to be completely unsatisfying in comparison to mastering a real life manual task.
I also often find myself banging my controllers together, especially when handling pistols.
I think most people find this kind of thing frustrating and immersion breaking, which pretty much defeats the draw of VR gaming.
My favorite VR game is Resident Evil 4 partly because it seems that they focused on reducing the friction of weapon handling. Most processes are fairly simplified and the tolerances are generous, but you still get that heightened level of intractability in VR vs a simple button press.
Its ergonomics are definitely tailored for nested states, but it can generate flat machines perfectly fine.
[1] https://docs.rs/moku/latest/moku/