Personally . . . I would never HEAVILY train with a sidearm that " mimics" my carry (bet your life on) duty weapon. This unless - -> the 22 had the same,sight radius, trigger face and pull weight,same gun weight,and most importantly,same effects of recoil.
Does the military do it ?? Wont the police departments (TAX PAYERS) buy training ammo for your duty weapons ?? ---- SAWMAN
Years ago I was stuck in Expert Class ( Bullseye ) . Got to talking with SSGT Wm. Walker who at the time was on the USMC team . At his urging I got a Marvel 22 conversion & built a bottom just like my 45acp wadgun . Initially my 22 scores suffered . Within a few months I was shooting personal best damn near every match . Best part is it also helped my 45 scores also . IMHO there's something to be said for having both as identical as possible . Realitively easy to do with the 1911 platform or S&W revolvers .
Glock makes 22 conversions for most of thier duty sidearms. The object of using a .22LR instead of the duty round is to show the operator bad habits that can develop with recoil.
SAWMAN, the Government bought 1911 Colt Ace's to train Recruits prior to issuing them .45 ACP 1911's. The cost and confidence gained with a .22LR ingrains proper habits. If you don't hit your mark using a .22LR all the excuses in the world won't teach you better marksmanship. JMHO. When you need to use your full throttle Duty Sidearm, every marksmanship lesson learned with the .22LR still applies, and as long as the manual of arms is identical the training is priceless.