Artillery Shell Recording - A lesson in Knowing the Right Person
- Nick Lee
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read

As part of my efforts to improve my portfolio, I wanted to share this awesome experience I had whilst working on my new sound design demo reel. I recently decided to start working on some new cool and challenging clips, one of which being a redesign of the below clip from Battlefield 1.
Whilst working on this clip, I remembered that I had a mutual family friend that has a huge artillery shell collection. Steve is an ex-air force navigator and his collection is something to behold. He has all kinds of artillery and tank gun shells from both world wars and up to more modern pieces. I knew I just had to ask if he would let me record some Foley of his shells for my redesign of this clip. Of course, I did not want to cause any damage to his antiques, but I knew I wanted some authentic hand-on-shell movement recordings for the loading sequence of this clip.
A lesson in historical accuracy
Thankfully, Steve was very happy to oblige and invited me over as he was sure we could work something out. I was blown away by Steve's input on the clip and knowledge about the different types of shells, both of which taught me a surprising lesson that I'm about to share. You see, I was very excited to show him this clip from one of my favourite games of all time, with a scene that I think is epic, emotional and overall, a cool sequence to behold.
I showed Steve the clip above, he watched it twice, looked at me and said:
"Well, they got that all wrong!"
Firstly, I learned, the British artillery men in this clip are firing a German artillery gun. In my research for the type of shell used, I could not find the right gun. Steve immediately knew which type of artillery gun it was, a German 21cm Morser 16.

Secondly, Steve pointed out that the ammunition, the shell, used in the clip was correct for this gun, however, it would not have been used like it was in the clip. The shell, painted in the wrong colour, was loaded without any propellant. Steve then told me that, at that time the Germans would have used the brass casing (shown in pics below) filled with the propelling charge attached to the shell. Another way to load it was to insert the shell and then the propellant charge without the casing, which would have increased reload speed as there would be nothing left in the chamber to extract. Neither method was shown in the clip, so the shell would have just sat there and could not have been fired. Learning this, it now seems like a glaring oversight by the BF1 team. However, when I watched this clip and played the game, I, probably like many others, didn't notice at all, I was too engrossed in the gameplay to realise this. But, to others like Steve and now to me, this kind of detail is important.


After realising how inaccurate the clip was, I then asked how it should have been. Steve quickly thought about the scenario. Some context to the clip that I gave to Steve is that the player has been fighting in an early tank battle, however the tank was now stuck and surrounded by enemies. The goal of the artillery then, was as a last resort option to save the tank. Steve noted that the technology at that time would have allowed the British artillery crews to use a timed fuse via an 18-pounder field gun. This would have an airburst capability that could kill the surrounding soldiers and, crucially, not destroy the tank. Steve gave me an excellent and in-depth lesson into how these timed fuses worked via the use of a cut open shell for teaching purposes, as shown below.



Recording Shell Foley
Of course, then came the question of if I could record any of the shells. Luckily, Steve obliged and let me record a full 18-pounder shell.

Armed only with my recent purchase of a Zoom H5 recorder, I had a general idea of the kinds of sounds I wanted. I put together a makeshift Foley box using some thick blankets over a laundry dryer from home. I got to work recording hand movements and grabs along the shell at different points and with varying intensity. I also brought a sheet of metal from home that I could slide the shell over to get some of the sliding noises I needed. Of course, I did my best not to scratch or dent the 18 pound shell, which ,luckily for me, did not happen. I knew I could design the rest of the more heavy impacts seen in the clip with other samples, but of course it would be cool to one day record the actual loading of these shells into a breech.


Listening back to the recordings, I definitely got some useable source that I will use in my redesign and other projects in the future. It would be nice to go back to Steve and his collection in the future to get some better recordings using higher spec gear, especially microphones. Maybe some day I could record enough to create a sample pack for other sound designers to get historically accurate source.
For now though, I am more than happy with what I recorded and more importantly, what I learned. This was a really interesting and insightful experience that I felt very lucky to have. The biggest takeaway from this for me was that, yes, some details can be glossed over and missed by the majority of gamers, however, for those few with the knowledge, historical accuracy really matters.
Of course, I have to say a big thankyou to Steve for letting me even go near his collection, let alone teaching me so much about them. There was so much detail that Steve gave to me that I haven't even covered here, I really appreciated how knowledgeable he was on these things.
Overall, it really goes to show, having the right connection can lead to some amazing experiences.
If you have any questions or have an interest in some of what I covered, I'd be happy to chat about it. As I said, I'll be posting the redesigned clip in the near future so look out for it. Thanks for reading!
Also, huge thankyou to my partner for the excellent photography!
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