421C
Clearly we are at cross purposes as I have already said or you are just plain trying to be difficult.
I dont care how unlikely the circusmtances are; the poster asked the question. I have a feeling you have done plenty of touring so I have to add your comment surprises me. I am with IO540 in his earlier post about the real world circumstances of touring, but there it is, your experiences are obviously very different from all (not most) of the people I know.
As to the point at issue, it is only that you would declare an emergency in the scenario given if for whatever reason a diversion did not produce the desired results. Where I in that situation (in the very carefully worded example I gave) and hypothetically if I didnt have an instrument rating which I was entitled to use in that specific circumstance for a purely technical reason I wouldnt take the same course. (and in case you are trying to bate me into an admission of acting illegally of course I have never found myself in that situation
)
So you do it your way and I will do it mine.
The gentleman who asked the question and anyone else will make their own decision.
Thing is, it's all too easy to begin your day with the intentions of doing the former, and end up doing the latter. What if you descend & find you're still in solid IFR at MSA?
You have made a pr** of yourself. However you began your day if that is something you ended up doing then it has nothing to do with a sensible pilot making an informed decision about arriving above an overcast that was never remotely forecast to be a problem beyond a brief incursion into IMC for the purpose of a visual recovery.
The difference between descending through a thousand feet of cloud and hand flying for an extended period in turbulent Wx with no visual reference is considerable.
Which was why we were not debating this issue. The trick is to read the question which posters on PPRuNe seem to have become very poor at doing. (Oh this is fun today, love a bit pf PPRuNe stirring).