If you want opinions from folks who own and shoot the RIA 1911, go to the 1911 forum. You will find that most who offer negative opinions about them don't own them.

You will find all but ~1% extremely happy with them. Warranty service is what the industry standard should be. (It's handled in Nevada).

While on that forum, read through the Kimber,Springer, etc threads and you will see owners of those brands have many more problems with QC from the their respective factories.

I have owned RIAs for several years. Every one has run as intended. I have ~10k rounds through one and several thousand each through a few others. I shoot USPSA single stack with them.

I have owned Baers, Browns and Wilsons. I still have one Wilson CQB and it is a dandy. I can buy 5 or so RIAs for the cost of one CQB. The Wilson is great but doesn't shoot any better (in my hands) than the RIA.

You don't need to change a bunch of parts to "bring it to the level" of Kimber, Springer, etc. While they may be more attractive than the parkerized RIA, I have found they don't function any better.

You may read comments that Rocks are built in bamboo huts. Go to the Armscor website and take a look. It's an ISO certified plant.

My 2 cents-
Dave