I agree, get a forend from Tony. Laminated Charcoal should go with your Black grip best. I believe he goes out to 12 Inches as standard on his forends. He will also puts a bipod stud in as standard.
His Standard Forend is 1.85" at the widest point, at least on mine. It narrows from about the bipod stud forward. He also makes a Bench Rest version that is much wider. I would go with the Standard one. It looks like what should have been on the Contender to start with.
I have a Laminated Charcoal with a Pachmayr grip on one Contender, and a Black Walnut on the other with the factory Walnut grip with the rubber back strip. I have 13 and 14 inch barrels, and got both forends in 10 Inch. I am totally happy with them.
Tony's forend will be a huge improvement off a rest bag.
I have not tryed a bipod on the forward bipod stud yet. That might be a good thing to try today when I get to the range.

Good Luck
Bob