Barrel Depreciation and the True Cost of Shooting
How much does it cost you to send a round downrange? Ask most shooters this question and they’ll start adding up the cost of components: bullets, powder, and primers. Then they’ll figure in the cost of brass, divided by the number of times the cases are reloaded.
For a 6BR shooting match bullets, match-grade primers, and 30 grains of powder, in brass reloaded ten times, this basic calculation gives us a cost per shot of $0.51 (fifty-one cents):
Bullet $0.33 (Berger 105 VLD) Grafs.com
Primer $0.02 (Tula/Wolf SmR magnum) PVI
Powder $0.08 (Reloder 15 @ $19.15/lb) PVI
Brass $0.08 (Lapua @ $82.30/100, 10 reloads)
Total = $0.51 per round
NOTE: If you shoot a larger caliber that burns more powder, and uses more expensive bullets and/or brass, your total cost per round will be higher than $0.51.
$1.00 Per Shot True Cost? Yikes!
OK, we’ve seen that it costs about $0.51 per round to shoot a 6BR. Right?Wrong! — What if we told you that your ACTUAL cost per round might be closer to double that number? How can that be? Well… you haven’t accounted for the cost of your barrel. Every round you fire down that tube expends some of the barrel’s finite life. If, like some short-range PPC shooters, you replace barrels every 700 or 800 rounds, you need to add $0.60 to $0.70 per round for “barrel cost.” That can effectively double your cost per round, taking it well past the dollar per shot mark.
Calculating Barrel Cost Per Shot
In the table below, we calculate your barrel cost per shot, based on various expected barrel lifespans.
As noted above, a PPC barrel is typically replaced at 700-800 rounds. A 6.5-284 barrel can last 1200+ rounds, but it might need replacement after 1000 rounds or less. A 6BR barrel should give 2000-2600 rounds of accurate life, and a .308 Win barrel could remain competitive for 4,000 rounds or more.
The table below shows your barrel cost per shot, based on various “useful lives.” We assume that a custom barrel costs $540.00 total to replace. This includes $300.00 for the barrel itself, $200.00 for chambering/fitting (conservative number), and $40.00 in 2-way shipping costs. These are typical costs shooters will encounter when ordering a rebarreling job.
The numbers are interesting. If you get 2000 rounds on your barrel instead of 1000, you save $0.27 per shot. However, extending barrel life from 2000 to 3000 rounds only saves you $0.09 per round. The longer you keep your barrel the more you save, but the savings per shot decreases as the round count increases.
How to Reduce Your TRUE Cost per Round
What does this tell us? First, in figuring your annual shooting budget, you need to consider the true cost per round, including barrel cost. Second, if you want to keep your true costs under control, you need to extend your barrel life. This can be accomplished in many ways. First, you may find that switching to a different powder reduces throat erosion. Second, if you’re able to slow down your shooting pace, this can reduce barrel heat, which can extend barrel life. (A varminter in the field is well-advised to switch rifles, or switch barrels, when the barrel gets very hot from extended shot strings.) Third, modifying your cleaning methods can also extend the life of your barrel. Use solvents that reduce the need for aggressive brushing, and try to minimize the use of abrasives. Also, always use a properly fitting bore guide. Many barrels have been prematurely worn out from improper cleaning techniques.
Similar Posts:
- Barrel Life and the TRUE Cost of Shooting
- UltimateReloader.com Reloading Cost Calculator
- Cost Per Round by Cartridge Type: .223, 6BR, 6XC, .308, 6.5-284
- Shot Costs Calculated for .223 Rem, 6BR, 6XC, .308 Win, 6.5×284
- Rising Component Costs Influence Caliber Choices
Tags: Barrel, bullet, Cost, Powder, Primer, Reloder 15, Tula
For extended barrel life, shoot the 30BR!
I save barrel costs by using switch-barrels and keeping the best barrels for big shoots, and using older or inferior barrels whenever the stakes are low, and for firefroming new brass etc.
this almost makes me want to cry!
The only flaw in those calculations is that I’m seeing prices of about $250 for chambering these days from the gunsmiths I trust.
Editor: German, that’s a good point. Some of the top smiths are even charging $300.00 to chamber/fit/crown a barrel. That obviously raises the per shot cost even higher.
As a hobby gunsmith/target shooter and sometimes hunter, I knew that the cost were high, but Geez. It almost falls into the catagory of a vice, like gambling
My Dasher and my best 7mm barrel have both just gone to better places. While I am devastated, especially about the 7mm, I have competed with them for 10 years and 5 years respectively and done some things and won some things. These are the offsets to the baseline cost and these are the things that cannot have a price put on them.
Just glad my wife doesn’t read the Daily Bulletin, she’s still convinced that all the equipment I have keeps the cost down….
Extended barrel life with the 30BR, yes, but greatly off-set by the cost of custom match grade bullets. About .25 each for 68 gr. 6mm’s, versus over .45 each for 115/117 custom 30 cals.
Alan Fraser: My procedures also: Save the winning barrel chamberings for match use only, use the lesser quality ones for off-season & informal shooting.
Bottom line: There is no free lunch.
The hammer forged and nitrided barrel of my Steyr SSG (.308) has a service life of many tens of thousands of rounds and nobody ever shot worse with it than with those soft, untreated, stainless barrels.
Add some more to the barrel cost to melonite, then every thousand rounds do this calculation to remind yourself why and smile.
Another couple of things that cost many shooters a good,and expensive percentage of their barrels’ accurate lives, is a lack of an organized approach to working up a load, and not moving on soon enough when a given combination does not give the desired result. Between loading five each of various loadings, when a smaller number of shots will tell if there is promise. (If two shots look ugly, adding more won’t make the group smaller.) and persisting with a powder that your rifle does not seem to like, because you have a large supply of it, you can burn a lot of steel.
Unfortunately the NRA scare tactics, proven unfounded so far, have resulted in price increase across the board of 100% or so. Terrible. Never thought id say this being a life member but I believe it to be the truth.