Ran my first "brush" test close to 50 years ago, by shooting through a bush where the branches didn't exceed 1/2" in diameter. The bush was 3+ feet thick, and I could just see the aiming point on the target I set up behind it.
Tried two rifles, which were pretty much opposites--a .243 Winchester with the 105 Speer Hot-Cor at around 2900, and a .358 Winchester with the 250-grain Hornady round-nose at around 2300.
The .243 did noticeably better, and my guess at the time (and still is) that the smaller-diameter bullets had less chance of hitting brush.
But the owner of the .358 had once shot through a 6" diameter lodgepole pine and killed the mule deer behind the pine, using a 250-grain Winchester factory load. Wouldn't bet on the .243 doing the same thing.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
