Brush Guns one mans opinion

[rasbo]

.308 bolt action carbine,I use it for bears on the wet side and it is great

[Bigshooter]

Most on this forum are too young to remember Elmer Keith but he was the master of brush guns. He hunted in Idaho with a friend of mine, outfitter Erv Malnarich.  Ervin told me Elmer didnt hunt with a rifle smaller than .40 cal.

Everyone that hunts or shoots should know who Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor are.

[RG]

Most on this forum are too young to remember Elmer Keith but he was the master of brush guns. He hunted in Idaho with a friend of mine, outfitter Erv Malnarich.  Ervin told me Elmer didnt hunt with a rifle smaller than .40 cal.

Everyone that hunts or shoots should know who Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor are.

I think you have to be an old guy to remember them.  I read every story O'Connor wrote.

[yorketransport]

Most on this forum are too young to remember Elmer Keith but he was the master of brush guns. He hunted in Idaho with a friend of mine, outfitter Erv Malnarich.  Ervin told me Elmer didnt hunt with a rifle smaller than .40 cal.

Everyone that hunts or shoots should know who Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor are.

Every time I look at a 44 mag I think of Elmer Keith. Every time I make fun of the 270 I think of Jack O'Connor.

Andrew

[MarkyMark]

On my to do list for 2014 is to visit the Jack O'Conner museum in Lewiston.

One more vote for the BLR in .358 Winchester

[6.8mmARHunter]

My brush gun:

It's currently an AR-15, 16" barrel, 6.8mm SPC, Aimpoint M4s 1X RedDot optic.



I'm going to change it up a bit over the next week or so. I've just received a new barrel today. A 16", .458 SOCOM barrel from Black Hole Weaponry. Going to swap out the 6.8mm SPC for the .458 SOCOM.

It's light, quick to point, and follow up shots are right there... For scale, the top cartridge is the .458 SOCOM, the center cartridge is the 6.8mm SPC, and the lower cartridge is the 5.56 NATO. The bullets are (l - r) Remington .277 (6.8mm) - 115 gr, Speer .458 - 400 grain JSP, and Barnes .458 - 350 grain TSX.






sam

[RadSav]

My brush gun:

I'm going to change it up a bit over the next week or so. I've just received a new barrel today. A 16", .458 SOCOM barrel from Black Hole Weaponry. Going to swap out the 6.8mm SPC for the .458 SOCOM.

OP mentioned wanting a gun that would reach out a couple hundred yards.  What do the 200 yard ballistics look like on that SOCOM?  Any reports of feed issues with that rebated rim?  Sure looks like a lot of fun!

[Fl0und3rz]

My brush gun:

I'm going to change it up a bit over the next week or so. I've just received a new barrel today. A 16", .458 SOCOM barrel from Black Hole Weaponry. Going to swap out the 6.8mm SPC for the .458 SOCOM.

What do the 200 yard ballistics look like on that SOCOM? 

Kind of like a 45-70.

[6.8mmARHunter]

Yep, my understanding is ballistics of a 45-70. Roughly, if you sight in +2" @ 100 yards, you'll be -2" @150 and -10" @ 200.  I suppose that's stretching it a bit...

I hadn't heard of anyone having issues because of the rebates rim. It seems to be a non-issue.



sam

[mountainman]

45/70 does fine to 200...but I will always grab my 444 Marlin. Has dropped game from 5 feet out to 250. Bear, deer, and elk. 300 gr8 XTP. Nothing on God's green earth it won't handle. And it shoots 3/4"!

[b23]

I think putting "brush gun" and "shooting 200yds" in the same sentence is kind of an oxymoron.

Isn't the definition of a "brush gun" basically close range use??? 

To me, a brush gun would be something with open sights, lever action, 44 or 45 caliber (45-70, 444, 450), shortish barrel 16-20in max. with its shooting purpose being 100yds or less.  We all know any of these would shoot much further than 100yds but with open sights and using a zero of no more than a 100yds I'm not sure how well I could guess the elevation, with open sights, to accommodate for that much drop in bullet trajectory out to 200yds.

[MountainWalk]

Surprised no one has mentioned the good ol timr honored 12 bore shotgun...Killed my first four or five deer and a couple of bear with one.   Used to do lots of thick stuff huntin with a side by side. Buckshot in the rigjt, slug in the lefy.  Always liked number one buck the best. A load of that in the head neck area, tag filled. 

[snowpack]

For me, my idea of ideal for brush gun is what gun can get me sighted in on a target in cover in the fastest time.  Personally, the best over the years for the fast close stuff and moving animals has been a bolt .30-06 with a scope at 3X.  In the heavy cover I can't recall needing multiple shots from a repeater because, usually the animal would only give a quick glimpse and when it started moving through the cover again after a shot...it was very unlikely to get a follow up shot anyways.  The repeaters have been better for the open country--close or long range.  The levers and semis have seemed to work best in the mixed cover (avalanche shoots/gravel bars/right at the treeline in the high country).

[MountainWalk]

Right now my ideal(which I hope to biild soon) is a bolt rifle, 20 inch barrel, no sling, and open sights, eight lbs, and able to shoot 250 grn RN bulllets, min...and ugly!

[Alchase]

If the "brush gun" is implying a slower larger bullet does any better then a smaller faster bullet busting through brush then,

I personally believe the term "brush gun" should go away along with the term "stopping power".

They are both myths.

Their have been tons of tests that shot a larger slow moving bullet deflects just as easy as a fast moving bullet.

If "brush gun" is referring to a rifle with a shorter shorter barrel, with open sights to be shot at close ranges possibly in dense cover (but not through it) then my choice would be any of the following, LOL

Winchester 30-30 lever action
Any shorter barrelled 45-70 lever action
Ruger mini-14 in .308
Seeing a pattern here?

I grew up hunting the dense forest Olympic Peninsula black tail and elk.
I have always use the same bolt action type rifles that I use hunting the East side.
Similar to what I shoot now:
Ruger M77 MkII, 7mm mag with VxIII
Sako Finlight, 300 Win Mag with VxIII

I could never find an ounce of reason
(except to justify increasing the size of my rifle family, and that would be reason enough to buy one)
that would put one of the "brush guns" mentioned in a better position for me to succeed then the bolt action rifles I use currently.