When I epoxy bed a 99 buttstock, I try to direct most, if not all, of the recoil forces at the wood directly behind the bottom tang.
The wood behind the top tang and the wood that comprise the stock cheeks is thin by unfortunate design so is evidently prone to crack. I try to leave hairline gaps where the metal meets the wood at those interfaces.
^^^^ This.
I also coat the non-load bearing surfaces with un-thickened epoxy. Depending how much clearance the bolt has in its rear-most position some epoxy removal in the LH cheek is probably then necessary. Every little bit of epoxy helps.
I'll reiterate a past sentiment- all this is for an otherwise buggered up rat or a new stock on a shooter.. A "collectible" piece doesn't deserve such drastic treatment, nor a nice surviving "shooter", IMO- but everybody here knows that.
