Exporting v_shotgun.blend to v_shotgun.md3 properly

Creating weapons in Xonotic seems to go as follows:
- You need g_*.md3 which is the pickup/ground model. (not interested
in this right now)
- You need v_*.md3 for third person and view model. (very interested
in this)
- You need h_*.iqm for an invisible handle to position the v_*.md3
model.

I wanted to try to and do this for the shotgun so I downloaded v_shotgun.blend, exported it to .md3 and recompiled the game. Unfortunately, this gives a weird shotgun (see image).

I did the following: v_shotgun.blend is exported to .md3 using Blender v2.72 with the addon md3-2.63a_export (they seem compatible as the model exports to .md3). After recompiling the game, the shotgun shows
up but the weapon model looks way too big.

I left the h_shotgun.iqm as is (want to figure out exporting to .md3 first before getting into .iqm)

How do I properly export the v_shotgun.blend to v_shotgun.md3 with it showing up properly? The .md3 exporter has the following options:
- Manual scale
- Offset X:
- Offset Y:
- Offset Z:

Is the trick to change the manual scale? I tried scaling it down but that didn't work either.

I've read every thread I could find and also when through the wiki on Weapon systems in Xonotic but I can't get the v_shotgun.blend to export nicely to .md3 and show up in the game.

Please help :*(

There are 3 weapon systems in xonotic, I always use one with first person model in h_.dpm ( I can't create working iqm model from smds exporterd from 3ds max ). Your screenshot shows my usual first result of exporting new model. I don't understand why, I usually open file with old weapon and just replace mesh with new one but it often ends up like that
If you try to use 3ds max with xonotic engine, first you have to downgrade to old, buggy version which only supports valves old model format smd. Then you are using standalone converter to dpm, iqm or md3. In these standalone converters there is offset option in config file, similar to your exporter.
My advice will help only if you are going with weapon in h_.iqm. In weapon system of your choice your changes to first person view model will also affect third person one.
First you need to figure out how each axis correspond to engine axis. It's often different than 3d modeling apps and each engine use different axis system. So export weapon with large positive value in X offset, see how it works ingame, export with only Y offset, check, and repeat for Z. For me this process usually takes around 30 minutes, because I have to export to smd, use third party converter, copy files to xonotic and then reload whole game each time I want to see my changes. Once you figure this out, you need to move your weapon to bottom right corner. You don't need to scale it down, just moving your weapon forward will make it look smaller. It's just a process of tweaking offsets, exporting, and seeing your changes ingame, compare it with other weapons so it's in similar position. This part will take several hours. To compare it with unity3d or unreal4 engine, they all support fbx model format, that is supported by every 3d modeling app, your changes are visible instantly ingame without need to reload anything and whole process takes around 10 minutes. Good luck with your exports