inches from his head

Abruptly he is pulled out of his reverie by the echo of a Henry rifle and a bullet  puffing into the snow inches from his head.

Does inches from his head here modify the snow or the bullet? That is, is the bullet or the snow inches from his head? Thanks.

Angliholic wrote:

Abruptly he is pulled out of his reverie by the echo of a Henry rifle and a bullet  puffing into the snow inches from his head. Does inches from his head here modify the snow or the bullet? That is, is the bullet or the snow inches from his head? Thanks.

It doesn't really make much difference, as the result is the same.  Technically I would propose that it modifies the snow, which was always (for the time in question), inches from his head, while the bullet was the last to arrive.