*weapon*_hand.md3 files contain the tag_weapon, tag_flash, and tag_barrel MD3 tags, which tell the game how to position the *weapon*.md3 models in the player's view, when the player is holding some weapon. for example, swap the rifle_hand.md3 and shotgun_hand.md3 files, and notice that the rifle/shotgun view models are drawn at different places.
Ah thanks! Do you have a visible example of these? As I'm not sure what tag_wapon, tag_flash, and tag_barrel are.
an MD3 tag associates a name with a position (relative to a model's origin), or even an animation of positions. find some information on how to place MD3 tags in MD3 models (i have never used a modeling program before). in a *weapon*_hand.md3 file, a tag with the name of
tag_weapon should exist, and the game will place the view model at the position specified by the tag (relative to your camera). similarly, the game uses
tag_flash to position the firing flash effect, and uses
tag_barrel to position the weapon's spinning barrel (currently, the chaingun has one).