Brass has become expensive to buy, which is one reason they might cost more. But, the main reason from a barrel makers point of view is the fact that they are a real PITA to make. When drilling the hole in a piece of brass you must
do different things. There is cutting oil pumped thru the drill under pressure to wash the chips out of the hole, the oil
then circulates back into a reservoir to be re-pumped. The oil flows thru a field of magnets to pull the small particles of
steel out of the oil. Guess what? those magnets don't attract brass, so you must set up strainers to catch all of the
brass chips. After the hole is drilled, the blank is turned concentric around the hole on a lathe. This also fun since brass
seems to heat up rather quickly and will warp, so, you pull it out of the lathe and straighten it, then start over. You would also think it woud turn nice in the lathe, being brass.....not so, squeals, can do a lot of crazy things. So, generally
speaking, brass barrels are not fun to do, they do look neat when finished, but must be priced accordingly...expensive.
Don