My wife gave me the RIA Tactical for Christmas, "Thank You Dear".
For the $ this seems to be a good bet, the other 1911 I was looking at was the Taurus. And though I came very close to buying one last summer, I couldn't get past the paint job.
The RIA is simple and unadorned, plain grips, matte park finnish. RIA roll mark on the left side doesn't stand out.
The Pro's:
Ambi safety is crisp and has a positive feel.
The sights are better than the G.I. sights but adjustable only for windage and my gun is grouping 2 1/2 to 3 inches low at 50' off a rest, with 100 rounds gone. I can probably file down the front sight or install a shorter one. But I'll put more rounds thru it first.
The novak magazine (1 supplied) is just "o.k".. I have had two failures to go to battery in 100 rounds. I'll probably order some Chip McCormick's soon.
The action is tight with no rattles.
The trigger. For right out of the box and for the $ the trigger is excellent.
The Cons: Aside from low groups, none.
I was willing to spend a grand on a really nice older blued gun. But this one is just fine for learning 1911's.
Tom