Not sure if this is the right place.

I bought some P226 Tulipwood hogue grips and I plan on engraving and staining to give it a custom look. Engraving I will have someone laser engrave it for me and I will stain it myself.
Question is Should I have it stained (staining it a russian red color) before or after engraving? If stain after, Is it best to prep the wood (sanding the wood to take out the gloss) before engraving? Any helpful info would help. Thanks.

Pistol Grip model is this:
http://www.hoguestore.com/bmz_cache/b/bd038217c2a95ac9ab3c1ff74084905d.image.300x225.jpg

if the wood is already stained your going to have to remove it by sanding  before applying a new stain.
if the wood has a poly type coating then a chemical stripper can be used then sand smooth

I would stain after all work has been done.

keep in mind "etched areas will be much darker than the rest of the grip.

Def try on a few scrap parts first. this will help that you get the shade you want if you know the approx soak time.
eta

most when doing checkering will stain first then cut the checkering to keep the checkered areas from being to dark in relation to the rest of the stock.

Thanks for the reply and information Gregory_K appreciate it!

Depends on what you use for "stain."
Pigment 'stains' tend to collect in scratches.
Aniline dies not nearly as badly.

Never used them or knew about them untill 3 min ago.