IPSC practice with a 22 conversion

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what is the general consensus on training with a .22LR conversion kit for a ipsc pistol ( 1911 for ex), using a 22 upper on a 1911 with 22lr mags at the range doing IPSC/USPSA drills for 3-500rds and then finishing the same drills with 50-100rds of 9mm.

is the cost difference worth it? ( time spent reloading 9mm, sourcing components etc, vs shooting bulk 22lr) the only reason i am contemplating this is it allows me to practice more on transitions, movement drills, shooting on the move a lot more with cheaper ammo. using a 22 conversion would allow me to keep the same trigger/frame/grips etc and holster/pouches. the only difference would be recoil control and the risk of having a weaker grip due to getting used to the recoil of 22LR, which i think doing all the drills again with some 9mm at the end of the day would mitigate.

Thoughts/opinions from other IPSC shooters on here?
 
Ultimately practicing live fire with what you intend to shoot in a match is recommended, but I think any quality structured practice and more trigger time you can get in, as long as you are practicing good techniques, is beneficial.

Yes, a .22 will be less recoil, but so is dry fire and we all know the benefits of quality dry fire practices. Only thing I would be cautious of is that the .22 Ammo you use has sufficient velocity to cycle the gun and you don’t spend all your live fire practice clearing jams and getting frustrated.

Edit to add: and two or three weeks leading up to a big match, you need to switch back to the Ammo you will be shooting in the match.
 
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I highly recommend it, lots of fun plus no picking up brass! A few years ago I bought a Kimber Conversion kit for my Series '70 & a CMMG conversion kit for my AR 15. Shooting 3 gun matches became a lot more fun, A friend and I used to shoot 3 gun rim fire on Saturday and center fire on Sunday, using the SAME belt kit. You also get a lot more practice in, cheaply! Now when I want to take a new shooter out, the conversion kit goes on, a box of Federal bulk pack containing 525 rds cost around $40. Can't beat that.
 
I bought a Kadet 2 kit and ended up not really ever bothering with it for IPSC specific practice. If you’re serious about shooting IPSC might as well just shoot what you’d be shooting in a match, and dry fire. Or alternatively depending on the gun you shoot get an airsoft version of it simply because you can set up courses of fire away from a range.
 
With the right attitude and training plan, you can learn just as much shooting .22LR or even airsoft, as shooting 9mm, in many aspects of action shooting.

I've been coaching a "starving student" who uses her Kadet .22LR for 90-95% of her IPSC/IDPA practice. We finish each session with maybe 30 rounds of 9mm. More during the last practice before a match. She started holster practice almost a year ago, did her Black Badge in the spring and finished this year as a B-class IPSC shooter, and even trophied in that class, beating 18 other B-class shooters. Locally in IDPA, she is beating the vast majority of shooters overall.

Once you understand where .22LR can help, and what are the trouble areas, you can save a ton of money while growing your skills.
 
I've never tried 22 for IPSC training, but as feedback be different you timing be different as well, so you need to understand limitation. Same as weight of mags during reload.
But any training is better than no training.
 
I'm a big believer in cross training with a .22, I run an AA kit on a G19 for training purposes and for me it works, of course recoil isn't the same but there are enough replicable actions that I find it works for me. The bonus is for us a new discipline just started at our club- Tactical Pistol, which allows .22's so I ran mine in the last event and loved it, had a nice result also :)
 
It's not ideal but it has it's place. Steve Anderson talks about using a 22 occasionally, but it has it's limitations for sure. Just need to know how to use it properly.

Shooting my .357 Deagle makes a 9mm seem like a 22.
 
rayzorloo said:
Someone else posted shooting 40 in practice, so is there any benefit to shooting 40 while training then shoot 9 at matches?
Click to expand...

For me personally, I want to develop timing with my competition gun and load so I practice with what I shoot in competition. Wish I had listened to others who told me the same years ago before I spent all the money on a kadet kit and dedicated CZ-75 for it who told me the same thing.
 
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