This probably falls more into the category of what things looked like in reality vs what looks good in scale. If you can see it when your tank fires, and doesn't look overly silly it should be ok!
I'd be more concerned if you went to all the trouble of measuring recoil distance from battle footage and then you can't see the effect from 15 feet away.
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Tiger I - Panzer II - Panzer III - Panzer IV - Chi Nu Kai - Panther G - KV-1b 756(r)
M4A3(76) Sherman - T-34/85 - M3 Grant - SECRET PROJECT