Make a Duck Call Out of Spent Shotshells in 3

Steps
Turn empty your shotgun shells into whistle calls for teal and wigeon
By T. Edward Nickens | Published Nov 24, 2020 10:14 PM
• Hunting
• Gear

Whistles made from low or high brass heads will make different sounds, so keep a variety on your
lanyard. Levi Brown
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This loud, breathy whistle is a charmer for teal and wigeon. It’s a snap to make with a few common
tools and pairs of spent 12-gauge shells. Each requires either one low brass head shell
(approximately 5⁄16 inch tall) and one high brass head (approximately 5⁄8 inch tall), or two low
brass head shells.

1. Heat the brass head of the shell.

Use a blowtorch to heat the brass. Robert L. Prince

Heat the brass head in the flame of a propane torch. Wearing a work glove, hold on to the brass and
gently pull the plastic case away with pliers. Remove the plastic cup inside the brass head by
reheating the brass and then scraping away the plastic with a flat-tip screwdriver. Repeat with a
second shell.
2. Get rid of the primers.

Use the screwdriver to partially flatten the metal flanges. Robert L. Prince
Place the brass head (with primer down) on a 1-inch stack of cardboard. Punch out the primer. Use
the screwdriver to partially flatten the metal flanges that held the primer of each brass head. Do the
same on the other brass head. Then hold the pair together, and blow through the holes to get an idea
of what your call will sound like. After step 3 the sound will be louder and sharper.
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3. Hammer the two case heads together.

Tap the brass head with a hammer to widen the circumference. Robert L.
Prince
Widen the rim of the high brass head to accept the other head: Use a rotary tool to grind the rim of a
9⁄16-inch socket slightly so the ground rim barely fits into the brass head. Tap it with a hammer to
widen the circumference of the brass, then remove. Lastly, tap one brass head into the other.

T. Edward Nickens
T. Edward Nickens has covered sporting, conservation, and outdoors culture topics for more than 35
years. His work has appeared in Field & Stream for more than two decades, and includes features,
his regular column, “The Total Outdoorsman,” five Field & Stream books, and the anthology The
Last Wild Road.