If I recall the $299 was the US MSRP. In Canada I believe they hit the market at or near $349-$369 for a short while. They originally came out to respond to the Ruger SR which was driven by an appealing price point at that time. Slowly it has crept up in price to now over $400 which is not unexpected. What irks me is they now have the SD9VE Range kit, which is nothing more than the standard SD9 with an Uplula thrown in..Big deal. As I have posted earlier yes the trigger is hard for the average guy BUT it was not intended to be a super trigger mirror finished with unicorn tears and blessed by Leprechauns. It was designed as a Self Defense gun(SD in the name) WITH a heavy trigger so as not to experience NDs in the hands of less experienced. The trigger is no problem at all for those of us raised on DA revolvers. I bought one of the first just to see how close it really was to a Glock and u can see how the Sigma(preceeded the SD9)was the one Glock sued over. A few minor mods and the SD9 was (re)born. It has been a tack driver from the beginning but I did in fact add FO sights which for me made a world of difference. I only use it now as a Guest Gun or for a Training gun. Would I buy another one? Nope, other choices are more appealing given where the price point has risen to...
dB