Originally Posted by
soaringhigh650
The IMC rating is just an IR with 15 hours of the training.
The way I see it, an IMC rating gives you enough training & experience to fly under IFR without killing yourself; an IR rating gives you enough training & experience to fly in Class A without inconveniencing other users of that airspace.
IMO there should be a way for experienced IMC holders to obtain some credit for experience gained flying in real-world instrument weather towards a full IR rating, providing of course their instrument flying is of a sufficiently high standard to pass the requisite flight test.