Umm, yeah, I do think a nice Kimber with a .22 cal hole in the end is silly looking. Not that it matters (and I do try to avoid spending a lot of time looking down the front end of other people's guns), but most people who get Kimbers are pretty concerned with aesthetics -- that's why they get expensive guns and take lots of pictures of them.
I guess I have to agree that a .22 conversion would be very useful for teaching. Even after a girl has shot a .22 plenty and is totally comfortable it does make me a bit uneasy to see her struggling with the slide then cracking off the first shot in a gun that weighs half as much and kicks 100X as much. I'm not trying to be harsh on women -- untrained guys do a lot more stupid stuff than girls do at the range, but with a girl I'm always worried that the first shot is going to put a rear-sight-shaped scar on her forehead.
As far as the .22 conversion kit "paying for itself," I don't buy that. That implies that .22 practice is an equitable substitute for .45 practice, and it also implies that you are "paying for the conversion kit" by getting much less practice with .45.
Yes, the gun has the same trigger, has the same sights, and has the same grip feel. I have to argue that it is a big deal that the gun doesn't have the same weight or recoil, though. I'm no competitive marksman, but unless a gun has a terrible trigger it's pretty easy to get that first shot on target after very limited practice. With a .22 I think most of us can go rapid-fire and keep a really tight group. The difficult part is getting an accurate 5th shot with a .40. It takes practice to get on target again and keeping your hands steady. I remember the first time I shot a 9mm -- not exactly something that should be hard to control. It wasn't that I wasn't strong enough; I could bench 50 lbs. more back then, actually. But my hands were shaking after just a few shots and my accuracy was terrible.
I suppose it's ridiculous for me to say practice with a conversion kit is useless. I just think the degree to which it is a substitute for real practice is grossly overstated. Unless your primary motivation is fun, I think spending that money on reloading supplies would be a more valid way to save.
Of course, if you're doing it for fun, then it's absurd to pass any kind of judgment on what you do to your gun! If shooting a 1911 with a .22 conversion is somehow as much fun as shooting bullseyes with a .22 target pistol, I guess I'll have to try it sometime.
