In 2017 my 16yo daughter got her elk tag the week before the season started, so we didn't have much time to work up a load. Thor's were out of stock so I bought some of the new Federal BOR LOKS in both copper and lead. They shot fine, but they slid up and down the inside of the barrel after seating them.......no bueno.
The only other thing I had was some 338gr Powerbelt Platinums. They shot great, but I had heard and read all the horror stories about losing elk to them. But on the other hand I also talked to a few guys that use them all the time with success.
I was amazed when I couldn't find a single drop of blood from either of the two entrance holes. No blood on the ground, no blood on the fur, no blood around the holes. In fact, I had to run my hand over the hide several times until I even found the holes. Luckily her first shot was a little high and had some spine shock that dropped him, but he got up and ran about 80 yards before dropping again, and then she put another one in him. If he had run through the timber over 100 yards, he would have been really tough to find with no blood anywhere.
Neither bullet exited, and I only found one of them against the opposite hide. I weighed it when we got home, and it weighed 199gr, so it lost 139gr or 40% of the bullet inside.
It kind of reminded me of the debate over broadheads. Sure, a 1" BH will kill an elk but blood on the ground is critical to recovering quickly, unless you watch or hear them drop. I've heard that ML conicals rarely exit elk which can hinder blood on the ground. Maybe that's just part of the game, but would love to find a ML bullet that blows through and dumps blood.