The effect of the newly developed thermomechanical treatment on Soviet ball-bearing steels was investigated, using both cylindrical and flat specimens. The test specimens were exposed to annealing temperatures ranging up to 550 deg C, followed by cooling in air. The thermomechanical treatment resulted in a marked improvement of the bending strength of the steel accompanied by an increase of its plasticity. The treatment, applied with a high degree of deformation, was also found to reduce the influence of the annealing temperature on the dimensions of the coherent grains. Ground materials did exhibit grain growth, up to high annealing temperatures. This might explain the occasionally observed effect of cold working. (TTT)