On the gunnery table: Only in a very broad sense. Consider that, unless a special rule is in effect it means that highly trained crew and advanced cogitators are just as accurate as an ork using a set of crosshairs mounted on the barrel of the gun. Very few ships, even ones that logically would, get a left shift.
As I mentally model it, a unit of fire power is not a unit of firepower. This is to say that some races generate their firepower units far more efficiently than others. The orks saturate a larger region of space than Imperial forces do for the same effective attack density. Modelling this is beyond the scope of the game and would really only come into play in the most obsessive/compulsive sets of campaign rules dealing with the tracking of munitions expendature.
Special rules and shifts are an aberation in what should be a simple system of just increasing the number. We really shouldn't add complexity when we don't have to.
I agree with this. Right Shift plus additional firepower makes the rightmost column better, (because you can't shift any further) and thus actually improves long range shooting. It also haemorhages dice at higher firepower, which causes disincentive to squadron. LS+Reduced firepower is the opposite, with close range fire getting worse and higher firepowers getting more effective and boosting squadrons. FP values should just be given straight, without any of this column shift nonsense except in exceptional individual cases.
