As long as you are not using one of the big magnums you don' t need to crimp ammo in bolt action guns. They are not subjected to the same recoil factors as guns with tubular magazines. Yes it does apply to hunting loads. You can always try a few with a very light crimp to see how it does. The slight increase in pressure could possibly help accuracy. It could also hurt it too. It' s all experiment. You never know til you try. Good luck.