PURPOSE: To improve abrasion resistance and fatigue strength by forming starting material into such one that compactifies medium-high carbon content metal powder made up of a powder metallurgy process, in the manufacture of a piston ring, which forms a billet into a wire rod by plastic working and, after being refined, performs its bending.

CONSTITUTION: Medium-high carbon content metal powder is, in general, manufactured by a water atomizing process, and it is compactified by a hot hydrostatic press and, after obtaining a billet, it is applied to hot working and cold working and finished into a wire rod. If this medium-high carbon metal powder is used for a starting material, an eutectiv carbide is very small and dispersed uniformly so that hot workability is remarkably improved and simultaneously any flaw due to the cold working is conspicuously restrained from occurring, and thus it largely conduces to the shortening of work routing and improvement in ring bending workability. If a piston ring is manufactured from this medium- high carbon content metal powder, a uniform, fine hard carbide can be formed, so that abrasion resistance and fatigue strength both are sharply improved.