Heed

le Gun. — A fire arm loaded at the breech with a cartridge carrying its own fulminate, which is exploded by driving a needle into it. … In order to strike an object at a distance le than point-blank range, it is nece arv to diminish the angle that the axis of the mere makes with the natural line of sight. This is accomplished by diminishing the difference between the radii of the muzzle and base-ring. This amount. required to be taken from the radius of the base-ring, is called the negative han e.