Summary1. The management of certain clinical problems presented by gunshot wounds of the larger arteries has been discussed from the point of view of the field surgeon, who sees all the cases, including those early failures in patients who die or lose their limbs and therefore never reach a special vascular centre. Observations under these conditions are, however, hampered by lack of special facilities and equipment and by difficulty of long‐term follow‐up.2. Certain problems of arterial injury at special sites have been discus