i bought a badger cantilever slug barrel for my rem 870.best groups were 3 inches with remington accutips.second best winchester bri 3 1/2 inches.this is at 50 yrds. off a lead sled rest.ive tried lightfield,federal expanders,hastings,winchester platinum and it srayed them all.all mounts and magazine cap are tight.im not bashing badger barrels,but i sure was dissapointed.should i just live with 3 inch groups at 50 yrds or try another barrel?i can get a hastings economy cantilever barrel for about 140.00.any suggestions?

A friend of mine shoots an 870 with a Hastings barrel. He had to tighten the barrel nut with a pair of Channel locks to get it to shoot well. I'm not recommending this method, but you should make sure it is tight.

I can get 3" groups at 50 with a Mossberg 500 smoothbore/rifle sights and rifled slugs no problem. So, I suspect you can do better, just need to find the right slug. I'm shooting Brenneke KO Sabots (not the hybrid style, the sabot version of the KO) from my Marlin 512 and I can get1-2" at 50.