You will get the most brush with buckshot on a per shell basis, 12 gauge is best

I use either a Marlin .44 mag rancher lever action with open sights, or a 7.62x39mm SKS with open sights and a folding stock. .44 mag is short light, doesn't kick too bad, lots of energy with heavy bullet to go through little branches and stuff in the way. SKS is semiauto and quick on relocation. 7.62 is a .30 cal but it's short case, supped up shells can almost match my .30-06, nice short gun, inexspensive ammo and gun, folding stock is great, it's durable, and really good on second shots even though it muzzle hops a bit, the sights are made for relocating targets.

Marlin Model 336 chambered in 35 Remington with 200 grain loads

Nomercy, I must disagree with you about the 7.62X39mm, even handloaded it is no where near 30-06 ballistics. It can barely catch up to a 30-30 Win.

I'm with frizzellr. The best brush gun is the one you DON'T hit brush with. Something with a scope so you will pick up obstacles in your line of sight, and a fast, high spin bullet that will stabilize quickly if you do hit something.

i've used two guns with equal results...my old 30-06 and now my .270 win...both shoot well through some brush but like it was said there is no "perfect" brush gun because all it really takes to deflect any caliber bullet is one small little twig..but i like my .270 and she does well in the brush..

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I'm with frizzellr. The best brush gun is the one you DON'T hit brush with. Something with a scope so you will pick up obstacles in your line of sight, and a fast, high spin bullet that will stabilize quickly if you do hit something.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>

What difference does it make how quickly it stabilizes after hitting something?

I guarentee you, if you hit brush with a high speed bullet, AND WHEN, AND IF it stabilizes, it is sure to be traveling at a different angle than when it hit the brush.......

If you want to get thru brush, you have to have a heavy (and slower?) bullet. I just shot a fox a few hours ago with my flint lock. He was in brush so thick, that I could barely make out his outline, but the bullet plowed straight thru, and hit dead on.

Yes, I know someone is going to say you are only supposed to take clear shots..........well, when you have so many fox, that they have your archery kills partly eaten till you get to them.............. something has to be done.

For those of you who do not bow hunt, unless you absolutely know where you hit them, see or hear your deer go down, ya gotta wait 2 to 3 hours to go after them, or risk them jumping up, running & losing the. By that time, if they did go down immidately, the foxes have found, and begun to eat them!<img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>

We have consulted with several butchers, and they have advised us not to eat any deer that the foxes have already been eating, as if they started before the deer was totally dead, and the fox/coyote had rabies, it can draw thru all the meat!!!

pistoltrainer, I'm not a gun expert but I have been reading about shooting quite a bit over the last few years. At least some of the high profile shooting writers (Jim Carmichael for one) are moving away from the heavy/slow theory for shooting through brush. They use a spinning top analogy. Spin a top slowly and spin one fast. Bump them and see which one recovers. A fast, high spin bullet wants to keep its original trajectory better than a slow, low spin bullet. All the writers agree, however, that all bullets deflect when they hit brush, without exception. As I said, I'm no expert so I go with what the pros are saying. They could be wrong. If so, I am too.

338-06 with a scope.