- All right, gentlemen.
Now we're going to get to the heart of who
is our next "Forged in Fire" champion by testing your blades
in a kill test, a sharpness test,
and, of course, up first, the strength test.
Dave?
All right, gentlemen.
Now here on "Forged in Fire" we have
a small elite group we like to call
the Bulletproof Blade Club.
Hopefully you'll both be joining.
To test the strength of your weapon,
we'll be firing a .45-caliber round
at the edge of that blade.
Now you're both veterans.
The .45's a military weapon, so the cutlass you made
is a military sword.
So we're going to use our own military weapon in this test.
Third ranger battalion and former Air
Force para-rescuemen, Will Willis
will be firing the round. All right, Jon.
You're up first. You ready?
Hell yeah.
The fact that Will is going to fire
freehand his pistol at my blade, I can't believe this.
[bleep] damn.
A sword is not meant to meet up with a bullet on its edge.
I am sweating bullets, no pun intended.
[music playing]
[gunshot]
There it is.
[gunshot]
Woo!
All right.
Jon, I was running my fingernail across here,
and I thought I was feeling nicks in your blade.
What I'm actually feeling is material from the bullet
that's hung up on the edge.
Congratulations.
You got a bulletproof sword.
Thank you, sir.
All right, Mike.
You ready for this?
Let's do this.
OK.
[music playing]
[gunshot]
I think that did it.
So Mike, your blade held up really well.
You can see, right here, where that bullet
went right across the blade.
The edge is still there.
Welcome to the club.
Bladesmiths, this is the kill test.
Let's see how deadly your weapons are.
Jon, you're up first. You ready?
Rock and roll.
I built this thing to kill.
It's not some flashy museum piece.
[music playing]
I didn't think it went that deep.
All right, Jon.
First up, the handle construction
is comfortable with me.
I had no issues at all with this catching on anything.
I was able to move around it.
The point easily pierced through this and lacerates
on the way out.
The balance of the weight of the blade
is forward enough to where I cut through right
into the clavicle, into the ribs, into the lungs.
Jon, this weapon will kill.
Thank you, sir.
Mike, you're ready. You up for this?
Let's do it.
[music playing]
All right, Mike.
Let's talk about your cutlass right here.
First up, it's a lot heavier than the other sword
but it's all centered down here.
That curved edge really lends itself
to a nice lacerating weapon.
The only one thing I have to say about this
is it's a very big handle.
There's a lot of space right here.
So I have to choke up to get the right feel for the blade.
But overall, sir, it will kill. Good job.
Thank you.
Jon, Mike, we here at "Forged in Fire"
want to thank you for your service.
I'm a former service member, so is Doug.
We understand that sacrifice.
In this arena of competition, there can only be
one "Forged in Fire" champion.
Both of your blades performed exactly as we expect them to.
They're strong, they're sharp, they're deadly,
so this is a decision that came down to the finest details.
Our new "Forged in Fire" champion is Jon.
Congratulations.
Mike, unfortunately your blade did not make the cut.
This is why we have these kinds of competitions
when it comes to be that close.
So we have to look at the finest detail.
What we looked at now was the handle construction
of your blade.
There are some hot spots and some gapping,
and that's the reason why you didn't win.
OK.
I have a hard time saying this Devil Dog,
but it's time to give up that weapon.
I think I really represented myself.
I did a really good job.
Jon just beat me in a fine detail.
That's it. - Congratulations.
Semper fi, buddy.