In this study, variations in the microstructure and hardness of a low-carbon SCM415 steel with austenitizing temperature and cooling rate are investigated. When the austenitizing temperature is lower than the A1 temperature (738.8 ℃) of the SCM415 steel, the microstructures of both the air-cooled and water-cooled specimens consist of ferrite and pearlite, which are similar to the microstructure of the initial specimen. When heat treatment is conducted at temperatures ranging from the A1 temperature to the A3 temperature (822.4 ℃), the microstructure of the specimen changes depending on the temperature and cooling rate. The specimens air- and water-cooled from 750 ℃ consist of ferrite and pearlite, whereas the specimen water-cooled from 800 ℃ consists of ferrite and martensite. At a temperature higher than the A3 temperature, the air-cooled specimens consist of ferrite and pearlite, whereas the water-cooled specimens consist of martensite. At 650 ℃ and 700 ℃, which are lower than the A1 temperature, the hardness decreases irrespective of the cooling rate due to the ferrite coarsening and pearlite spheroidization. At 750 ℃ or higher, the air-cooled specimens have smaller grain sizes than the initial specimen, but they have lower hardness than the initial specimen owing to the increased interlamellar spacing of pearlite. At 800 ℃ or higher, martensitic transformation occurs during water cooling, which results in a significant increase in hardness. The specimens water-cooled from 850 ℃ and 950 ℃ have a complete martensite structure, and the specimen water-cooled from 850 ℃ has a higher hardness than that water-cooled from 950 ℃ because of the smaller size of prior austenite grains.