[Unkl Chuck]

Congrats on your adventure into Contender / Encore land. I own and shoot both generally as pistols and have been for nearly 40 years. Definitely purchase or load some reduced recoil ammo for the .308 and take that thing to the range. Keep the iron sights for now and learn your new pistol.
I do scope mine, I'm a bit older than you and my eyes aren't what they used to be. I prefer rifle scopes opposed to extended eye-relief, but I'm shooting from the bench at targets. Hunters generally prefer the extended eye-relief for quicker acquisition. Weaver makes a mount for Encore barrels.
.308 is a handful in a pistol, I think it has somewhat more recoil than a .44 mag.,but it has been years since I shot .44 and my .308 has a muzzle brake now. There are several hold positions folks use for these pistols, do some research and practice.
The Contender / Encore 'platform' can be addictive, beware of additional barrels sneaking into your safe. Have fun and be careful.