I've just checked this mechanic myself and this is not how it's done in OSRS. Your attack resets when you swap your equipment. It still requires some clicks to get a good combo done. However, I will tweak how the gmaul currently is, because it's bugging when you're not close to your enemy.
Nah, you just can't one tick
(skip to 2m59s)
Watch the video at 0.25 speed. There is a click on the enemy before the dragon claw special attack is performed. I've also validated this behavior myself today.
I do agree gmaul is currently a bit buggy, but that's getting a patch. The person in this video has great timing with switching the special attack weapon. The same combo is also possible in Emps-World assuming you have great precision.