I have to respectfully disagree.

I have a 1911 and a 22/45 in the safe, and they're both great guns, but I can't honestly consider the Ruger to be a suitable training stand-in. The grip is significantly slimmer, there's no grip safety, no exposed hammer... the safety is a sliding button instead of a lever; same for the "slide" release... Yes, the controls are in a similar location, but they've a very different feel.

The only thing they really have in common is the grip angle, IMHO.