DIY Pistol Grips for Encore

[CaptainHalitosis]

Greetings!

I am new to the board and enjoy it very much.

I purchased my first Encore about three months ago.  It is a stainless pistol with a standard T/C 243 Win. 15" barrel and a Burris 3-9X scope.  Last Wednesday was the first day of deer season here in Kansas and I took a lot of crap from my father-in-law for bringing a pistol on a "rifle hunt".  He quit harassing me when I shot a whitetail doe at 150 yards and she dropped in her tracks (neck shot--intentionally--hate to eat neck meat).  I am hooked.

I could type for hours so I will get to the point.  I have seen that some of you  build your own grips/stocks for your T/Cs and they are beautiful.  Mine came with functional but ugly rubber grips.  I am somewhat handy in the woodshop but I have never done any stock inletting.  It looks fairly easy but things that look easy rarely are.  I will try to build a prototype after the Holidays.

If you have done this, please tell me about it.  Dos and don'ts, info sources, hardware choices, etc.  

Thanks,
Mike

[kenacp]

Mike, I have done a set for my contender. As a woodworker myself,I thought it would be easy. HA! HA! All in all it came out really good. I laminated  two  pcs. of Brizilian cherry with the center a 1/4" black wallnut strip. Forend was really easy,used my router table for the barrel channel and frame inlays, then used  the drill press to do the inlay for the hanger bar wich was glass bedded, then shape the outside to your taste.As far  the grip, used  the router table to shape inlay for the frame , drill hole for the grip screw,then very carefully glassbed.Shape outside to fit your hand. It took more time than I would like to admit. Good luck.