I would suggest taking the original hands out of the sdk and looking at those, or even modifying them to create your own, that way you have the bones and rigging already done for you.
the handgrip, stock, and reciever (area above handgrip, between barrel and stock) could be a little thinner, i wouldnt want to have to get my fingers around that thing.
otherwise its good, ill give you an A for creativity. Nice for a 2nd model
it must be great if you got angry lawyer to give it the awesome stamp. this is a very creative and original idea, unfortunately im busy with another mod so i cant help, but i do wish you luck!
also, when you say 18+, you are missing out on some damn-good modders. I have seen a lot of 15-17 year olds with more skill in modeling and mapping than many of the adults around. They also have more time to dedicate, no family and rarely a job pulling them down. Did i mention they work for food...
i was able to get pretty decent at modeling within 3 months from a strictly coding background in rts games. then again, i got good at mapping in about the same time.
yea its best to learn at least something before you go seeking an entire team. Get a friend who knows modeling and learn how to map, people see a team as more attractive to join if they have something done or at least some people already in it.
it couldnt hurt to make it extra fun, but i would say using the deathmatch code should be fine. maybe some minor alterations like weapon tweaks/clones.