I wonder how much the rights and the tooling would cost from CZ right about now. I might just open my own manufacturing plant on the side in Mexico or somewhere like that.

If it's military issue, the "rights" aren't an issue.

If I were making the M6 over...

1. Put an o-ring seal on the lid of the butt-stock ammo holder for better water-tightness.
2. Use a composite butt stock rather than stamped metal.

I also might want to find a source of .410 flares again...something in a 3" shell...surely the technology exists to make these...too bad the BATFE makes it so hard to make them,

I was just thinking about the civilian version.

If one had enough cash for all the tooling, and the licensing etc, it might be possible to operate a small enough shop to turn out limited numbers of the piece. Assuming the BATFE, and the insurance man didn't eat up too big a piece of the pie....

I looked around for .410 flares, no dice

Just a little aside... Remington Arms recently announced that they have sold their 10 millionth 870 pump shotgun! They've been making the "Wingmaster" since 1950. There have been a lot of versions, but, it's a workhorse. I agree that it'd pack some punch in the self defense arena, and you'd certainly be able to score dinner in a survival situation. The basic design has been around for almost 50 years, pretty darn reliable. Interesting to note, Remington I believe is the only American company to make both arms and ammo still.

I removed the trigger guard from mine and it folds much more compactly now. I had a little trouble getting the .410 shells to slide easily into their holes in the top of the stock until I just put a very light coat of Break Free along the plastic shell. That worked perfectly.

I liked the Remington pumps quite well.
Both the Wingmaster and the Gamemaster (model 760).
The Gamemaster was 30-06 and was a very nice handling pump action rifle.

There are a lot of good light guns for pack rifles though, and .22lr is a good cartridge for putting meat in the pot.
I do find the .410 gauge a bit light and though 12 gauge is a bit too heavy for me as a pack gun a 16 might be workable.

Again, you need to think a bit about what you are using it for.
If it is for pot hunting a .22 makes a lot of sense.
Most of the critters I would shoot with a .410 are just about as easy with a .22.

My only bit of hesitation is if a scope over iron sight set up is worth while, or if just having the open iron sights makes more sense.
Scopes are nice, but they are easily knocked out of line and they add a bit to the weight and bulk.

The scope is totally unneeded unless one went with some kind of red dot aiming device. Then you are hauling batteries, and the rifle really still doesn't need it.

Someone linked to this on another forum so I'll pass it on to y'all...

http://pakrifle.com/Pak-Rifle.html

Disclaimer: Not affiliated... not even a customer... etc.

I've a stainless in .22 hornet/.410 and a parkerized in .22 lr/.410.
A very handy camp rifle.
For more serious work a Savage 24 in .22lr/.410, or 24C in .22lr/20ga go in the pack at a weight increase.

I love mine. All I've added to it is a foam fore grip wrapped in camo duct tape. I've found mine to be pretty accurate. I've shot many a clay pigeon with the .410 and won about $40 from my brother plinking some pretty small targets with the .22 LR.