Ok here we go. I hunt pretty much everything possible here in PA except geese untill this coming year that is. I met a new buddy and he's big into it and is as excited to take me as i am to go. Well my favorite gun is an 870 3'' w/ a 26in barrel. I have and plan on using the full choke lead/steel. Now I was wondering what shells with which kind of shot you all would recomend. I really would like to stay away from steel shot as I hear it can be rough on the barrel. So any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

tky, stay away from steel if you’re shooting with a full choke. You will definitely damage your barrel. I’ve used #4 lead for years on both ducks and geese and have been very successful and both 2-3/4” or 3” shells..We now have to use steel shot in our province so I’ve switched to #2 shot. I don’t do as much hunting as I used to but #2 should work pretty good. Good luck....

If you don't life steel jion the club there are several choices that I have used
Fed tun. iron Good stuff but $$$ and the payload is light DO not use your full
Kent tun.matrix good stuff not cheap but shoots just like lead ,need to choke like lead ,your full choke will do good 5 for duck and 1 for goose
Rem. hevi shot GREAT stuff harder than steel heavyer than lead , not cheap, I would not shoot this out of your full ,I shoot CYL. or IC for decoying ducks and geese, to mod for long range. your full will shoot way to tight ,Rem load 3" 1 1/4 6 or 4 for duck and 1 3/8 2 for goose
I reload hevi shot ,I shoot 6 or 5 ,1 1/4 oz at 1550fps for ducks and 2 ,1 3/8 oz at 1550fps for geese. With a Brily light mod extended choke 70 yd geese are easy with pratice, last goose 7 #2 pellets thru it at 75 yds
I load 1 3/8 oz of #BB hevi shot at 1550 fps for coyote ,non have needed more than 1 shot out to 75 yds saw fur blow off the back side

ok.....no full choke!!!!![:'(]
improved cyl, light mod, or mod for geese
geese i like hevi shot #2 best for knockdown power and shots pushin 30 yards

for yucky steel i do like the fast stuff like kent bb fasteel and federal spped shok bb

ducks i like same brands in #2, 3, and 4 shot , #3 is my fav with a mod choke

After several years of goose hunting I beleive that I have tried them all. The best yet is the Remington Hevi-Shot. I use #2 shot. They still have a lots of punch to knock down that big bird at 40 yards. They area bit pricey but worth the money.

Thanks alot for the advice so far. I think by the looks of things i'm gonna try the #2 hevi shot outta my modified. I guess I'm still in the turkey hunting mode where I think I need the tightest pattern I can get and apparently that aint so when hunting geese?Thanks again for the advice so far and feel free to keep it coming.

I have been shooting steel out of a full choke but I have not saw any barrel damage. But should I change the choke do you think. I dont have any problems with it.

Definitely change your choke! The damage will rarely appear in gradual stages. One shot will be fine then the next shot smokes your barrel. Metal fatigue and stress is not usually visible to the naked eye. I have seen numerous times that people have not heeded the warning and shot full chokes or aged guns that are not up to modern loads. The best example I can remember is a buddy that wrecked his dad's Belgian Browning.

Also make sure of what choke constriction you actually have. The manufacturers like to confuse with things like "Full/Lead Only, Full/Lead & Steel, or Extra Full Trap, etc." The best way to tell is to actually measure it. On a non-back bored barrel with a standard bore dia. of .730" a full choke should be about .688".