The RIA hi cap 1911 is very nice gun. I love it. But it does need a lot of work to make it as good as a 2011 with steel grip. It can get to that level, but it is not easy, and not cheap either. So in the end, you may not save much comparing to go with Prodigy + steel grip route. And the Pra style double stack 1911 just doesn't have as many options for parts (talking about Para specific parts such as trigger, extended mag release, mag, mag well, etc. ), surely many other parts share the same standard of 1911/2011, which is good. I'd say it is not worth it to go with RIA, since you may end up change most of the factory parts to something better unless you enjoy doing so. If I would start over with a new build, I would build a 2011 gun.