Fact is I never smacked an elk with a 170gr bullet... but I did kill an antelope with it... .30 cal in.. .35 cal out... never saw the bullet, but the hole was oblong which tells me the bullet was turning sideways. Said critter was dead well before it stopped walking. Boom 2 .3. 4 Thud!
I had a buddy kill a bull with a neck shot on a bull with a Winchester 30-30 and one of those 170 gr. bullets.. mushroomed nicely and broke 2 vertebrae. He made a HELL of a shot.
He also warned me NOT to take a shot over 300 yards with a 30-30 as he didn't think it had enough 'pop' for elk at long range... plenty within 150 yards, the in-between range depended on the shooter. (and yeah I've fired it at 300+ yards before)
I grew up being told the 30-30 was 'marginal' for elk and if I shot one to shoot it twice... we'll I've had to shoot a number of animals twice even with a .30-06... placement is everything, odd things can still happen when copper and lead meet flesh.
I've fired some 300 Hornady XTPs out of a Winchester Trapper that hurt to shoot.. mainly becase the rifle was too light, and off the bench the gun didn't fit me that well... in a Marlin, no big deal but there was some 'thump.'
I wouldn't hesitate to use a .44 mag on an elk... from a rifle or pistol but I'd use a soft point bullet, rather than an XTP, and 200 yards is a LONG way for a pistol bullet fired from a rifle, still if YOU can accurately hit with it... why not?
I ran out of ammo shooting my Uncle's Marlin 1894... that's the only reason I stopped shooting it. I can assure you with buckhorn sights you can hit a Skoal can at 100 yards... but after five times in a row there isn't much of the can left. Like I said... can't quite imagine running a hundred 30-30's out without a recoil pad under my jacket... though I've fired nearly 200 .30-06 rounds in an afternoon (1903A3) but that wieghs a LOT more and soaks up a lot of recoil.