All I can say is OUCH! Some of those charges must have had to hurt when you were shooting. I'm not surprised you were flinching. Still overall, it sounds like you had a most enjoyable day. I would think that some of those loads are more then adequate for elk although I never had the pleasure of elk hunting with a muzzleloader.

I think Roskoe is the one who shoots the Great Plains Conicals a lot. I believe he puts a MMP sub base under them. You might also want to look at the 460 grain No Excuse Conicals. I shoot them out of my Black Diamond XR with 85 grains of Goex 3f, no wad, and the NE. The accuracy is exceptional and I feel this is more then enough for elk if I were to get close enough.

The recoil pad is not a bad idea. It does make for more comfortable shooting... Good luck with your testing.