Well, partial success. Changing the id to cannon did in fact allow them to engage surface targets, but now they won't engage air targets. Added AA ammo to all guns as indicated above. And the positions sometimes go wonky and won't allow manual control anymore, only panning view around independent of the gun mount.
If I knew I could consistently man the 40mm/37mm myself, I'd just change those, but without being sure I can turn it against aircraft, that might not be a good idea.