As I have read it Jonas, all aspects of what you say are true to some extent. As we say here in England, "like the curates' egg it is good in parts." Some gunners were highly trained army artillerists, some disgruntled civilian volunteers, or Army pensioners, convict units etc.

Guns varied from modern, captured, or abandoned ones from retreating armies or captured ships, to old 100 year old ones hardly ever used in their lifetimes. Not a lot of accurate information exists, except that live firing was not frequently practiced because of the expense, whereas some keen battery commanders even set out markers to estimate the correct ranges, hard to estimate over water.
And then most gunners even when trained were used to firing with more manoeuvrable smaller guns at targets heading straight toward them or static, not traversing. That is the main reason I have upgraded the hitting power, but placed several handicaps on the range, speed of loading and inability to use double shot. I may well now need to vector in the spread of weapons along the waterfront to account for the ripple effect of the guns firing as the ship sailed past.

Rob.