Again I am in danger of rendering an opinion...
....when in fact I am terribly underinformed.
I think RM1776's definition fits mine. It is kind of an individual thing which for him resulted in the use of a 42" barrel. Possibly the only thing available to him at the time. That would be a little long for me but it certainly fit 76s. But then, did I mention? I don' hunt.
With the proliferation of ML options over the last five to ten years, a person who is just getting a "brush gun" (Lord, I do hate that word, "Gun") is right to do as the OP has and try to establish his own definition.
My only experience with hunting is when I went (unarmed) with my uncle who used me to flush out pheasants and encourage squirrels to come around to his side of a tree. I said he liked things short and light. That is not because he was in heavy thickets which impeded the movement of the rifle, but because in the dense brush, the shot was recognized quickly and almost as quickly it vanished. He had to be able to turn the rifle and raise the rifle in the short period that the deer had his head to the ground to graze. When the head was up, my uncle was always dead still. He always said that a deer can't see things, they can only see movement.
In western, PA, the shots were longer providing a little more time to raise the rifle and aim without spooking the deer. His longer 270 worked there.
is spot on. It usually just means and short, light, heavy caliber rifle used in heavy brush with a MV slow enough that deflection is not an issue. But no matter the length all big caliber front stuffers fit the heavy caliber bill. Before this whole ML addiction I got myself into, I too was a 30-30 fan for thick brush, which is where I hunt latter in the season when the old wise buck is leary of stepping into a field or big clearing. For early season Bean Field hunting I used my .303 for shots to 200 yards, more than that it was 300 Win Mag time. I only mentioned the removable breech plug on a sidelock barrel for ease of cleaning. I always worry that I don't get the breech clean enough. But then again a breech scraper would do the trick too.
like as in 12# field "gun". So to right myself, brush rifle to me would be pretty much dead on with what you and slayer said. That and the CVA staghorn (along with many others) is unwieldy to me...Not very well balanced, the angle of the grip on the stock with the 23" barrel makes the rifle feel cumbersome.
It will be getting camo though, I'm thinking the McMillan original M40 pattern in snow colors. I think I might creakote the barrel also.....McMillan Grey or maybe Tungsten.