I plan on buying a new .308 with a 16” barrel in the very near future (this week) and need some input. I have it narrowed down to the Tikka TacA1 and the LaRue Ultimate Upper (and also ordering the lower for a complete gun). Obviously these are very different guns. The use will be mainly paper punching at ranges of 100-600yds. It may also be used for some hunting and possibly a precision rifle class. 6.5 is not in the realm of possibilities due to the amount of .308 ammo I already have, so please don’t go there. Do you have any input to sway me one way or the other based on value/performance/accuracy/etc? Thank you for your time!

ETA: it’ll be ran both suppressed and unsuppressed.

Both are great choices, especially for those ranges, but I prefer semi-autos. Comparable precision, you can fire as quickly or slowly as you like, and less of a requirement to reposition yourself between shots.

If you are going to try tikka, I’d go ctr. Same rifle and you can choose your stock. Only other notable difference is the trigger.

I have a TacA1 in 6.5.  At 100 to 600, a 6.5 wouldn't have much of an advantage over the .308.

Mine shoots on par with guns that I paid much more for.  If you take a long range class, you'll probably see plenty of them on the line.

I LOVE the tikkas but the one negative I see with their 16” 308s is they use a funky thread pitch.  My 6.5 has the standard 5/8x24 but the 16” 308 I looked at had a metric thread that my suppressor won’t work with.

I've got the Tac A1 in 6.5 Creedmoor.  I'll copy and paste my post from the Hide here:

Chassis
It's long, it's heavy but it's actually pretty phenomenal. The buttstock is finger-adjustable for comb height. The LOP requires a tool (allen key IIRC) but comes with shims to adjust as required. It's folding mechanism is very solid. One point of concern is that, when folded, the buttstock can rub on the "receiver" seciton of the chassis, marring the finish. I solved this with a little felt pad meant for cabinet doors. The chassis body itself is robust and allows you to change out grips. However, the stock grip has been fine for me thus far. The mag well is generous and foregiving. Inserting/removing a mag is a breeze compared to my Remington's with AICS dbm bottom metal. The forend is good for what it does. Simple and no frills but solid.

Action
The action is like every other Tikka--smooth and efficient. The bolt lift that comes with the gun stock is large enough for quick manipulations but doesn't get in the way. If you don't like it, companies like Sterk, Anarchy Outdoors, and Glades Armory all sell replacements that are easy to install in a matter of minutes. The bolt shroud is aluminum but unexciting. The 2-stage trigger is actually wonderful. VERY light take up (less than 1lb) and a nice, crisp, clean break sends the round down range with consistency. The break is adjustable and sits around 2 lbs on my rifle. The barrel produces very nice groups (more on that in a second) and is threaded for a suppressor or brake of your choosing. If you live in a shitty ban state (like me...Delaware) the brake that the gun comes with makes shooting a true delight. The thing recoils about the same as my AR's with an A2 birdcage. Not exaggerating. It's insanely effective. Tikka mags are pricey (about the same as AICS) but they perform just fine. I've had no feeding issues.

Accuracy
I've shot both factory and reloads in my gun (a 6.5 CM variant). Using Nosler BT 140 grain ammunition, it prints about 0.8" average. I've shot 4 or 5 five round groups and they were all about the same. I've only done one ladder test thus far (50 rounds, 5 round groups, 10 groups) and have had pretty amazing results. Using IMR 4350 (couldn't find H4350 near me), all groups between 40.0gr (ladder low) and 41.8gr (ladder high, above book max so be safe) all printed sub-MOA. In fact, my best 5-round group (41.8gr) sat at 0.49" at 100 yards and showed no pressure signs. I may experiment above the 41.8gr, but first I want to try the other 4350 variants for comparison. Most groups on the day hoovered around 0.7". I did not take any chrono data so I can't comment on velocities. Now, please keep in mind that I am an absolutely average shooter and didn't scientifically wait for some duration between shots. I just shot the gun and it printed what it printed. I was using a rear ramped bag from Cabelas, an Atlas BT10, and a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56. These groups were shot in 40F, relatively calm weather. YMMV.

Summary / TLDR
I love the gun. It has shown so much potential and prints tight groups right out of the gate. For comparison, I've got 3 Remington 700s (2x .308, 1x .30-06, all LR builds) and a Howa (.308 chassis gun) and this already shoots better than all of them with the little load development I did. I've drank the Tikka KoolAid and I couldn't be happier.

If you're wanting something to run surplus through I'd get the Larue or maybe even a Galil Ace.