I believe 8 is the common number of guns in a battery
big guns, battery, cannon, ordnance, gunnery
A unit of a military artillery is a Battery, not a Company. While the actual number of artillery pieces varies depending on organization and type of artillery, frequently a battery has 5-6 pieces.
Long guns, hand guns, artillery
Artillery . :]
Artillery=Guns OR Cannons The term Guns in the military refers to Artillery. Rifles, machineguns, pistols, are called Small Arms.
A "battery" in naval terms is a gun / artillery emplacement, or an area with several gun emplacements. Guns are Navy terms for large-bore cannons, not small arms.
Simmonds' Battery Kentucky Light Artillery ended in 1865.
There were various types of artillery and various size units. This is for a Field Artillery Battalion that served within an Infantry Division. Each FA Battalion that operated 105mm field Howitzers consisted of 3 batteries of 4 guns each. Each battery, identified as Battery A, B & C, had about 100 men. Then there was the HQ Battery, the Service Battery(which was smaller or about 80 men). My Dad's unit in Italy, the 328FA Battalion, had an extra battery, Battery D, added to it that consisted of self-propelled artillery. Then later, they went to a 6-gun battery, but this was not common. See this link: http://www.custermen.com/ItalyWW2/ArmyOrg/OrgChart/Charts.htm
P Battery Royal Artillery was created in 1805.
Battery 'A' Kentucky Light Artillery was created in 1861.
K Battery Royal Artillery was created in 1809.
Gas and artillery warfare. Artillery --> Guns.