Aiming a bombard by a graduated range scale
Testing ranges braccio by braccio; marking the final range where the ball leaves no bounce
Continuing the ballistics study, Leonardo shows how to aim a bombard to strike chosen points. If the piece at c r throws its ball at full power from b to g, then to hit n he raises it to d r, and to reach m he aims it at o r. He instructs the reader to test the ranges by experiment, braccio by braccio, and to build a graduated scale: degrees each of 100, divided into 10 minutes of 10 braccia, each minute into 10 minima of one braccio, marking the final range where the ball buries itself a hole of its own size without bouncing. The diagram shows the overlapping trajectory arcs with their lettered summits.
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Aiming the bombard to reach points m and n
With the bombard at c r throwing its ball at full power from b to g, Leonardo describes how to redirect it: to strike n he raises the piece to d r, and to throw to m he aims it at o r. Adjusting the elevation lets a single weapon reach different marked points along its range.
A graduated range scale of degrees, minutes and minima
The reader is told to record ranges tested braccio by braccio on a scale marked in degrees, each degree counting 100 and divided into 10 minutes of 10 braccia, each minute into 10 minima of one braccio. This nested decimal graduation turns the experimental firing results into a measurable table of ranges.
Diagram of overlapping trajectory arcs
The sketch shows several curved paths rising from a common origin, their apexes lettered so each corresponds to a firing described in the text (labels a, f, r, e, d, c, b, h, m, n, g). Leonardo adds that the true maximum range of an elevated shot is the point where the ball makes a hole of its own size without bouncing.