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07 Manufacturer specializing in Competition Rifles
Grip safety hinges from the wrong side - it's fat up top, not at the bottom. Invariably, every time I've AI'd/Taught a class, I see the population it's marketed towards (hand strength/arthritis, etc) having difficulty keeping the grip safety depressed enough to actually shoot the gun consistently for a box of 50 rounds in a friendly, supportive environment. I also see this with folks that have massive meat mittens.
Practically speaking, nearly every EZ you see for sale in person has a thumb safety, making it have the same manual of arms as a 1911 - yet rarely is a 1911 recommended for a new shooter, but the EZ is. That's a massive cognitive dissonance to me, and is sort of telling that this is a marketing gun, not a shooting gun, so to speak.
The FN has neither of these issues, and has an internal hammer like the EZ, allowing for the recoil spring to be lighter (which is what you'll fight to rack the slide). Both of these guns will be harder to manually rack after pressing the trigger on an empty chamber (because you're cocking the hammer spring too). They will both be easier when the hammer is already cocked.
If one insists on a semi for non gun people at least make it a 9 for the chance of it running properly. 380's tend to run ideally in ideal circumstances YMMV
Can they cock a hammer? A 226 with the hammer cocked is not bad to rack
Yes, but they sure as shit don't lock back on a dud primer or dryfire exercises (I do not believe you need a "click" with every trigger press in dry fire, for what it's worth).
This also assumes that the gun will lock back in the shooter's hands. I'm all over the board for that, unless we're talking Beretta 92's and 1911's - most other guns are 50% or less for them to lock open on the last fired round in the magazine for me.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
I fully agree. I don't think having a "on/off" switch as a positive with new shooters, especially with the amount of pre-travel the trigger we commonly see on these systems.
A gun that can't have it's mechanical safeties consistently worked by the shooter isn't likely a great fire extinguisher - the FN simply seems to follow the design philosophy the OP is after.
A steel wheel gun, may be a better option.