New For 2023: Rock Island Armory 5.0

by
posted on January 18, 2023
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **

After more than seven years in the making, Rock Island Armory finally launched its 5.0 handgun in 2023. The launch marks a number of firsts for the company, as this is one of the first handguns to emerge from RIA with an all-new handgun design patent, thanks to the firearm's innovative RVS recoil system. This handgun is also unique in that it's one of the first handguns from RIA to be made at the company's all new Cedar City, Utah, manufacturing facility.

The RIA 5.0 is designed to be a shooter, thanks to the newly designed and patented recoil system. One of the unique elements of the gun is its square-shaped barrel, and the design of this system reduces felt recoil, ensuring that shots come quickly, easily and accurately. One of the other highlights in the RIA 5.0 is its "buttery-smooth" trigger, which ships from the factory with a 5-lb. trigger pull, but American Rifleman staffers who shot this pistol on the range shared that the trigger felt significantly lighter than that.

Other stand-out features of the RIA 5.0 is the gun's two-piece modular grip, as well as an optics-ready slide. The pistol also features front and rear slide serrations, a left-side push-button magazine release and slide-stop lever, Picatinny accessory rail and a flat-faced trigger. The gun is equipped with a 4.91" barrel, and the overall length of the gun measures in at 8.11", while the height and width measure 5.17" and 1.33", respectively. Unloaded, the pistol weighs 39.5 ozs.

The RIA 5.0 employs 17-round, flush-fit magazines. The suggested retail price on the pistol is $998.88. For more information, visit armscor.com.

Latest

Marines are wearing Model 1911 pistols and carrying Winchester 12-ga. “trench guns.”
Marines are wearing Model 1911 pistols and carrying Winchester 12-ga. “trench guns.”

Arms Of The Mail Guard Marines

While difficult to imagine today, brazen armed thefts of the U.S. Mail in the 1920s became all too common and beyond the abilities of mail personnel to handle. Enter the U.S. Marines—armed to the teeth.

The Armed Citizen® Oct. 13, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Editor’s Choice: Trijicon MRO SD

As can be sussed out from its name, the Miniature Rifle Optic (MRO) is a sealed reflex sight developed by Trijicon for use aboard carbines and rifles to facilitate lightning-quick target acquisition and smooth transitions between multiple targets.

Preview: MAC 9 DS Duty

Military Armament Corp. (MAC) introduced an affordable 2011-style pistol in 2024 with its MAC 9 DS.

The Chiappa 86 Wildlands: A Modern Take On The Winchester 1886 Lever-Action

Chiappa has updated the nearly 150-year-old Winchester Model 1886 lever-action design with the 86 Wildlands Angle Ejection Takedown, giving it added versatility in the way of accessory-attachment points and optics-mounting.

Preview: White River Knife & Tool Ursus 45

The White River Knife & Tool Ursus 45 offers plenty of hand-filling area that is made all the more comfortable by way of well-shaped, replaceable burlap Micarta scales.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.