In the present study, Ni-based Colmonoy 5 was deposited on Type 316L (N) stainless steel. The deposit was aged at 580 and 650°C for 5,000 h to study the influence of aging on sliding wear resistance. The aged deposits show more wear loss due to reduced hardness. However, the reduced hardness after aging was not reflected on wear test at 550°C irrespective of sliding distance. This is due to stability of microstructure as well as the generation of oxide layer during high temperature tests. Subsequently, an empirical relation was developed based on outcome experimental data using full factorial design of experiments in terms of hardness (H), test temperature (T) and sliding distance (D). Based on the empirical relation, it was found that the test temperatures (T) play a predominant role on wear loss than hardness (H) and sliding distance (D). Further, the developed relationships were validated using analysis of variance (ANOVA). © 2011 Indian Institute of Metals.