Concealed Carry Class and Guns

I took a concealed carry pistol class this week. There are a lot of contradictions, some may say choices, in choosing a concealed carry pistol, and what to take to the class. We all know small, light pistols conceal better, and carry easier due to the size and weight. However, those two features are a disadvantage when you have to shoot that pistol. Small pistols are less reliable and less dependable. That is, they malfunction more often, and their service life is shorter. They're also harder to shoot well, and hold less ammo. So, the best gun to carry isn't the best gun to shoot. The same relationship extends to caliber. In addition, the smaller the caliber, the smaller the gun needs to be to handle the power of the load. I have a .380acp pistol that weighs 8oz. I've seen very few .45acp pistols less than 20oz (the Kahr .45 is 17.3oz.)
I took my alloy 1911 sub-compact that is 24oz. I planned to make it my carry gun, as I don't expect to shoot it a lot, but I wanted to have a .45 if I needed to shoot. In the course we had a steel target with upper and lower plates that swung when shot (think of plates at either end of a letter 'S', so it looked like this --S--. Hitting the plates at the right time, with enough shots, would cause them to spin around the post. It was a lot easier for the .45 shooters to swing the plates than the .40 or 9mm shooters, but they had more shots in each magazine to succeed. I was able to spin it using a 6 round magazine (on my second mag). Still, my mousegun is a handful, with considerable recoil, and I lack in accuracy when shooting it. After trying the method taught, I encountered a problem with my gun where the trigger would lock up. Racking the slide would fix the problem, and shooting it the way I'm used to 'prevents' the problem (at least I never had the problem until then). The instructors and I decided I should switch to my second gun, a full sized 40oz 1911, also in .45acp. This gun shot great, accurately, and has two more shots, but it's HEAVY, and caused discomfort on my waist as the day wore on.
Quick aside. We were told to bring a jacket, so we could conceal and practice drawing our guns. I bought a used Sport Coat, but everyone in the class had a vest or winter jacket. Luckily, I also had an old winter jacket that I used day one, and a fleece vest for day 2.
The course was 2 days, with half of the first day being classroom, and the rest being at the range. The classroom time was about everything, except what we were going to be doing later. It covered philosophy, methods, law, equipment selection, student and instructor introductions and some other stuff. I felt like the Mall Ninja of the class- having the gear, but not the training or expertise. As it turns out, I may have been able to shoot better than a couple of guys in the class, but it was probably luck (I know I'm a D shooter in USPSA).