A direct growth of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on the metal meshes by an ion irradiation method has been demonstrated. The average diameter and length of CNFs were found to be 50 nm and 2.0 mu m for Cu meshes, and 20 nm and 1.0 mu m for Mo meshes, respectively. Scanning electron microcopy images revealed that sputtering time and metal species of meshes influenced the morphology of the obtained nanofibers. High resolution transmission electron microscopy images indicated that the nanofibers were metal-composite CNFs in which the very fine metal crystallites dispersed in the amorphous carbon matrix. It was also demonstrated that the amorphous based structure changed to nanowires covered with graphene layers after the current flow in the composite CNFs.