I've not used the Barnes bullets, but I recently switched from the same Powerbelt you are shooting to the Federal Fusions, and I sometimes shoot the Speer Gold Dots which shoot to the same POI as the Fusions. I had the exact same problem with the Powerbelt. I was finding the deer dead in most cases, but there was no blood trail going to them. I did get one with it that did leave a blood trail, but for some reason the entrance hole was about the size of a baseball. I think it must have hit the bone or something and broken apart going in. It left a blood trail, had it not, I'd never have found that deer even though he wasn't too far from me. I only got a pass through on one deer and it was a tiny doe. However, I hated to switch just because they were so accurate. I ended up losing a deer to them last year. When I shot, he went down right there and started flapping. Then he got up and ran off. I never found him. We finally found 2 specs of blood on a tree after searching for hours. That was it. That was the last straw for me and I went ahead and switched for this season.

Now with the sabots, I don't do anything different other than make sure the bullet is in the sabot before loading it. It's not any harder at all to use bullets in a sabot than a Powerbelt. I've also never used a bullet starter, so you most likely won't need one. I start them off just like I did with the Powerbelts, then I use my ram rod to push them down the bore. To my surprise the bullets in the sabots were just about as accurate as the Powerbelts. They shot great. I got to finally try out the Fusions on a deer this year, as well as a friend using them. They performed great. Left a great blood trail and expanded perfectly each time. They either passed through, or for a shot where it got hit in the neck and the bullet went back through the lungs, it had deep penetration and still almost exited. It did some serious damage and the deer dropped right there. We found the bullet lodged in the skin, but it had gone a long ways back. They just worked amazingly.

I also bought some Gold Dots to try and have shot them at the range, but I've yet to get to shoot any deer with them, and since it's rifle season here now, I doubt I will shoot at any deer with them this year.