powder burn

plural powder burns · alternative powder-burn

1. A burn, ordinarily superficial and on someone's skin, resulting from proximity to an explosion of gunpowder, such as that associated with the discharge of a firearm.

   Most had head wounds and powder burns, indicating that they had been shot at close range.

   1983 June 4, Lydia Chavez, “Salvador Photos Indicate Massacre”, in New York Times, retrieved 13 May 2014

   2 more examples

   To anxious throngs who crowded into Mexico City's Palacio Nacional this week, bland President Manuel Avila Camacho displayed a two-inch swath burned in the jacket of his grey-and-red striped suit, a similar powder burn in his white shirt beneath. The burns were over his heart. A jiu jitsu trick and somewhat erratic marksmanship were all that had saved the President.

   1944 April 17, “Mexico: At the Palacio Nacional”, in Time, retrieved 13 May 2014

   Tom Chaney is a depraved man who kills for no good reason. . . . Chaney has a powder burn on his face.

   2013 Oct. 8, grumpynerd, "Writer's Book Report: TRUE GRIT," Daily Kos (retrieved 13 May 2014)