Having read all of this, given it some consideration, read a few more bits and pieces, I thought it was time I posted something a little more serious.
To me, not going fully fine on short final has ants on it. (I am going to restrict my reply to Flat non geared Piston engine types)
Many pilots are ham fisted and just ram the pitch lever forward. If you have a bit of power on still, the chance of beating the governor are huge. You don't whack full back stick to rotate, so why treat a condition lever different?
I thought about what was being suggested with leaving the prop in the cruise setting for landing and almost thought it wasn't a bad idea, and that it could do no harm. No harm to the engine, but a whole load of harm when needed. It isn't going to be the short period of over square that does the damage, its going to be the simple lack of performance, and i think that engine damage is going to be the least of the worries. I thought about it long enough that I thought I might go and fly some practice approaches with that set-up and see what eventuates(at a safe height)
Then reality hit me.....the CSU equipped type I fly the most, would kill you in this configuration...lord knows its killed enough when being flown by the book.
PA-32-300!
The reality phase was reflecting back on a few flights and recalling the power used on some approaches. One in particular in my memory was my first time into Great Lakes. Unfamiliar strip, unexpected sink, first approach to that kind of gradient, almost max weight............ 2600 rpm...yes thats right almost full power
Do I want to be in an aeroplane that suffers from reverse command, with cruise RPM set on short final, and power not available the moment i want it? NO not yesterday, today, tomorrow or EVER!. It is bad enough that you have to pre-empt your power needs and wind it up early, than to be dealing with having to go for a second lever to get the power you need...or worse forgetting its set for cruise.
Sorry but it just seems a bit d0pey to me to give yourself something extra to do in a pressure situation, when you can pre-empt that situation by setting the aeroplane up for what you may need BEFORE you need it.
Having limited time in a 210 (the only comparable type so far mentioned) I cannot really comment on the comparison, other to say, that the 210 would probably give you the time to react and get the prop lever forward, but a chog 6 won't!. You are already on the back of the drag curve, so the chog 6 happily decelerates. Really not a place you want to be in.
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Mixture management.
I concur with not touching the mixture for the begining of the descent.
In an injected/csu equipped, I like to have the mix at roughly 75% forward when i level off for the circuit(with a keen eye on the cht/egt), and go for 100% at the same time I go fully fine on the prop....another thing i don't have to deal with in the event of a go-around. Once on the ground I'll wind the mixture back again as part of my post landing clean-up to avoid fouling. I find in PXG, 6 turns works just fine.
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At the end of the day, it does come down to your POH, anything else is the realm of test pilots.....hence they get paid the big bucks and get to write the stories that tell you how to fly it.
Leaving pitch in the cruise setting for landing to me is a NWT.....and if you have flown the chog 6, then you would know the circuit setting is different to the cruise in both MAP and RPM.
Cheers Big Ears