I'm considering purchasing a Compact Lightweight.  My main concern is the "felt recoil."  At 26 ozs., I assume it will flip a lot more than the full size Champion.  

Anyone out there have any comparitive experience?

i purchased a lightweight compact about a
year ago."felt recoil" is no problem at all
to me.It's just as comfortable to shoot as
my other .45's.I recently bought some corbon
power ball ammo which they claim has a
muzzle velocity of over 1100fps.I fired a
few to try and found it to be quite pleasant.
as far as muzzle flip,i dont find to be a problem with a correct grip.The only problem i have had
with the gun is the finish.the first time i
cleaned it,the old hoppes #9 took the finish
right off the slide.I called SA and they said
a month to get the gun back so i just took it
to my local gunsmith and had them gunkoat it.

There's some concern, regardless of brand, that the short .45 models have some cycling problems. The shorter slide throws all the physic equations out of whack. Some have as small as a 2.5" barrel.

Were it me, I'd be a bit hesitant to go beyond a Commander-sized slide. I'm sure there's some who have the baby .45s & have no problems but I'm not certain I'd bet MY life on it.

My .o2

I have a Springfield Compact Lightweight and don't find the "flip" to be much different than a full-sized 1911.  The followups aren't going to come as fast as ye olde compensated racegun, but certainly fast enough to do the job.  It's easy to shoot and fairly concealable.

As to reliability, BobCole has a good point, but I've never had a failure shooting this gun, even though I think the previous owner ran the heck out of it.  I believe the Springfield slide is a bit shorter than the Commander, also the grip and magazine.  But it isn't a "micro-compact" by any means.

If you get a chance, go shoot one before you purchase, just to make sure it feels right for you..