Rock Island Armory, part of the Philippine-based Armscor group, is the king of inexpensive but decent 1911s and they have been branching out lately into other models cooked up in-house. Their latest attempt at something fresher than a 112-year-old John Browning design is the RIA 5.0.
While at first you would just note that it uses CZ75 rails for a low bore axis and think it is another Archon Type B or Dan Wesson DWX, further inspection shows that it has a squared barrel and an innovative new Ram Valve System to control recoil.
Further, rather than being made in the PI, it comes from Cedar City, Utah, a quiet little college town of 37,000 residents that is closer to Las Vegas than Salt Lake City and best known for its Shakespeare Festival.The Cedar City connection is curious. We checked the ATF’s 2020 AFMER report, the most recent available, and found just two manufacturers in Cedar City that year, both of which seemed to be custom operations that only cranked out guns in the single digits.
Speaking of which, RIA says they are making just 300 of these pistols, for now at least. With a price of just $999, the plot thickens.
Regardless, we will find out more at SHOT Show and let you know.
By Michael Crites
Michael Crites has served as executive editor of AmericanFirearms.org since 2016 and previously held positions as associate editor and range correspondent dating back to 2000. He discovered his passion for precision shooting at age 12 during his first visit to his grandfather's shooting range, eventually earning an Expert classification in three different shooting disciplines before age 18.
During his studies at University of Wyoming, he earned four varsity letters on the collegiate rifle and pistol teams, serving as team captain for three consecutive years. He became the first UW student to complete the NRA Range Safety Officer certification while maintaining full-time student status. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Communications.
His diverse career has included roles as Range Safety Coordinator for the National Rifle Championships in Camp Perry 2001; editor-in-chief, Precision Shooter Quarterly; series editor, Modern Firearms Handbook collection; managing editor, National Shooting Sports Foundation Newsletter; editor, Competitive Shooter Magazine; operations director for Western Arms & Ammunition Co.; senior editor for the Shooter's Reference Annual (Cheyenne); content director for The Firearms Report, published by the American Shooting Coalition in Billings, MT; firearms correspondent for Hunting & Shooting, produced by Outdoor Sports Media Group in Jackson, WY; and publisher for Wyoming Shooting Sports Journal in Casper. He has contributed as a regular columnist for American Rifleman (NRA Publications), technical editor for Precision, a publication of the National Bench Rest Shooters Association (Phoenix, AZ); and as firearms specialist for the Gun Owner's Annual.
As a digital content creator, he has written more than 400 articles on AmericanFirearms.org, developed shooting technique coverage for the Brownells Shooting Blog (Montezuma, IA) and Federal Premium "Range Notes" platform (Anoka, MN), and served as lead content strategist for International Defensive Pistol Association (Berryville, AR). Beyond Tactical Firearms, his current endeavors include content development for the Wyoming State Rifle Association (Cheyenne, WY) and technical manual production for High Plains Publishing of Laramie, WY.
He has contributed to the 12th, 13th, and 14th editions of Modern Sporting Rifles Guide and edited The Complete Guide to Tactical Shooting and Competitive Shooter's Reference Manual (Gun Digest Books).
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