I'm lucky to have a gun-nut friend who has a nice indoor / outdoor pistol / rifle range on his property. He also has a wide assortment of semi pistols. About 6 years ago I jumped into the micro 9 game hoping to like the Sig 365. I did like it but the gun was having reliability issues. Went to my friend for advice and shot and settled on the Smith Shield 2.0. I bought one with laser built into the frame - excellent gun for EDC and home defense as it allows for unorthodox shots. (draw, point with gun held from your chest, shoot the dot ... no bad guy grabbing the gun from an orthodox extended hold : from behind a bed lying on the floor - hold your arm out so the bad guy thinks the laser beam indicates where your body is - shoot the dot) When more micro 9's started to grow to 10 - 11 - 12 rounds and were cut for red dot sights, I realized my Smith Shield 2.0 could be improved on. So back to my gun-nut friend and shot the new optics cut 9's ... Sig 365, Springfields, Glocks, Ruger, etc. They are all great and the red dot is a game changer for shots outside of 10 yards. The Ruger he had was a Max 9 (10 rounder) with a Holosun 407K on top. That combination was by far the best for me. So I ordered the Max 9 w/ Hogue grip and was shocked to find it for $299. It gets here this week and I'll pair it up with a Holosun 407K which is selling around $225.