Why the Rules Exist
Range rules are not bureaucracy. They are the structure that makes serious training possible. A range where the rules are loose is a range where students hold back, instructors slow down, and nobody pushes into the hard, fast, realistic work that actually builds skill. The opposite is true here. Because the rules are absolute and everyone trusts them, the line can move at speed, run live fire alongside real vehicles, and stack demanding repetitions without anyone getting hurt. Every rule below exists for a specific, defensible reason. Knowing the reasoning is the difference between following a rule and understanding it.
The Benjamin Guard sits on 158 acres in Cumby, Texas, and runs live fire on terrain that includes vehicles, buses, and aircraft fuselages. That environment is unforgiving of carelessness. The rules are how a complex, high-tempo facility stays safe for everyone on it.
Ammunition: Brass-Cased Only
Only brass-cased ammunition is permitted on the range. No steel-core, no tracer, no armor-piercing. This is not preference. It is the single most important rule for protecting the facility, the people on it, and the equipment that makes realistic training possible.
- Fire risk. Tracer rounds and certain steel-core loads throw sparks and burning material downrange. On 158 acres of Texas grassland, that is an ignition source. A single tracer in dry brush can start a fire that threatens the entire facility and everyone training on it.
- Ricochet. Steel-core and armor-piercing projectiles do not deform and bury into berms and steel the way soft lead and copper do. They skip, fragment, and come back. On a range with hard surfaces, vehicles, and steel structures, that turns a single round into an unpredictable hazard for the whole line.
- Equipment and target damage. Steel-core and armor-piercing rounds chew through the steel targets, vehicle props, and structures that cost real money and take real time to bring in. Brass-cased lead and copper ammunition lets the facility maintain the props that make scenario work possible.
If you are unsure whether a load qualifies, ask before you bring it to the line. Magnetic core, colored tips, and surplus markings are warning signs. The default is simple: standard brass-cased range and duty ammunition, nothing exotic.
Protection, the Loaded Gun, and the RSO
Three rules govern how you carry yourself on the line, and none of them bend.
Eye and ear protection at all times. Eye protection must be ANSI-rated, not fashion sunglasses. Hearing protection must carry a Noise Reduction Rating of 22 or higher. Both stay on from the moment you step onto the range until you step off, not just while you are shooting. A round goes off near you when you least expect it, and a fragment or a single unmuffled report does permanent damage. Eyes do not heal. Hearing does not come back. The protection is mandatory because the injuries are irreversible.
Firearms stay unloaded until the firing line. No round enters a chamber until you are on the line and an instructor has put you in a position to fire. In the parking lot, the classroom, and the staging area, every firearm is cold. This rule eliminates the negligent discharge before it can happen, because the conditions for one simply do not exist away from the line. It is the backbone of how the facility moves dozens of armed people around a working range safely.
The Range Safety Officer's commands are absolute. When the RSO calls a command, it is not a suggestion and it is not open to debate. "Cease fire" means stop now, finger off the trigger, muzzle in a safe direction, and wait. The RSO sees the whole line and the whole range. You see your lane. When those two views conflict, the RSO wins every time, instantly, no questions until the line is safe again.
FIELD NOTE —Field note: a good cease-fire is judged in seconds, not sentences. The shooters who stop fastest are the ones who train here the longest.
What Happens When a Rule Is Broken
Mistakes get corrected on the spot. A new shooter who lets a muzzle drift or forgets to keep a finger straight gets coached, reset, and put back to work. That is training. Nobody is removed for a correctable error made in good faith, and the instructors expect to teach. Learning the line is part of why you are here.
Willful violations are different. A shooter who ignores a cease-fire, argues with an RSO mid-drill, or knowingly brings prohibited ammunition is not making a training mistake. They are a danger to everyone present. That person is removed from the range. There is no negotiation, because the cost of tolerating it is measured in injuries and lives. Safety is the foundation everything else is built on, and the facility protects that foundation without apology.
Before your first live-fire session you will complete the digital waiver at /waiver, which takes about three minutes and confirms you understand these rules going in. Read them, train hard inside them, and you will get more out of every day on the line. When you are ready to commit to regular access, review the options at /membership.