- Bladesmiths, congratulations,
you've made it
to the final round
of this competition.
Now we're sending you back
to your home forges to recreate
an iconic weapon from history.
[dramatic music]
It's a rock-throwing crossbow,
gentlemen.
[upbeat rock music]
- Today, I'll be pretesting
the rock-throwing crossbow.
♪ ♪
This is a little bit different
for me
because I'm an edge weapon guy,
edge impact
and stuff like that,
so I don't like projectiles
that much
'cause I want to feel
up close and personal.
But it's still a weapon
that I can shoot.
- Nick, line up on Doug here
for the firing.
- Now, this is actually
a new weapon for us.
We've never done it before.
- And Jacob, you're set
with everything else?
- Uh, yeah.
- Using Dave's crossbow
for this test,
it really is about
how the functionality
of the weapon works,
'cause everybody's gonna
build it differently.
The weight,
the way you're gonna pull it,
everything's gonna
be different.
At least I have
a basic understanding
of the mechanics
of how it's supposed to work.
- I'd say you're probably
just a hair high still.
Right about there's perfect.
- Gotcha.
We're doing a test
on a ballistics heart.
[dramatic music]
It's a KEAL test,
but by keeping it away
from a torso,
without the ribs or all those,
we can actually see how deep
the stone penetrates.
♪ ♪
One of the things
about projectile weapons
in this competition
is we don't have a chance
to sight it.
We get three shots.
The first shot
is usually how I'm able
to gauge
and make my corrections.
- You're low.
You're about 2 inches down.
- Now I can,
for a second and third shot,
auto-adjust where I need to go.
♪ ♪
Got it.
So, the things
that we're experiencing
with the pretest,
we say, okay,
by using it,
I know what to expect.
I could do all the research
in the world
about this weapon,
but until you pick it up
and feel it and test it--
you get a real feeling
for what it can do.
Let's do this.
♪ ♪
- All right, weapon's hot.
♪ ♪
- And now we can cut.
