Lots of hype before its release and some the first few months but been a long time since anyone mentioned it.
Was it a failed project or just never lived up to the hype?

They failed to produce enough, there were issues, now supposedly a 2.0 version underway

Yep. Supposed to be the E version for enhanced. Lighter trigger, optics ready and tighter tolerances for increased accuracy

They released a updated version that costs nearly twice as much as it did originally... well, apparently. I cant remember ever seeing a price tag for the original incarnation, but its Rock Island Armory, no one expects a near $2K gun.

I have one.  It has been a great gun.  I don’t shoot it much though.

EDIT: ARF done fucked up

The original irons only/optic only guns were a limited run. They’ve introduced the RIA 5.0E version now, which is a standard production unit and comes optics ready with slide lightening cuts but is otherwise the same gun:



I’ve seen a couple at multiple LGS and they’re all over Gunbroker:

https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Keywords=RIA%205.0&Sort=13

Neat guns. Feels really nice in the hand and the trigger is great. If it were even a tiny bit ambidextrous I’d probably buy one, but gun manufacturers in 2024 are still retarded sometimes