Investigation of phase transformations in a high-chromium and medium-carbon steel were carried out with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Mossbauer spectroscopy for different prior heat treatment conditions of studied steel. SEM investigations revealed several distinct phases such as ferrite, austenite and bainite after different heat treatments. Mossbauer spectroscopy showed not only the ferromagnetic nature of ferrite and bainite phase but also paramagnetic character of austenite phase. In addition, the internal magnetic fields of ferrite and bainite phases were determined as 33.0 and 31.9 T, respectively by Mossbauer spectroscopy. Isomer shifts and vol.% of ferrite, austenite and bainite phases were also obtained by Mossbauer spectroscopy. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.