Distortion is a major concern for industrial production of case-hardened steel-components. Carriers of distortion have been identified at all stages in the production chain. Often recognized is the effect of steel hardenability, which is defined as “susceptibility to hardening by rapid cooling”. Hardenability is often represented by Jominy- or Grossman numbers, which are determined by experimental testing or calculation. Hardenability is derived from the steel ability to delay diffusion-controlled phase transformations, i.e. being dependent on alloying content and austenite grain-size. Hence, it may be of interest to investigate effects of individual alloying elements on distortion. Here we make an attempt to investigate the effect of hardenability (and alloying content) of case-hardening steel-grade 16NiCrS4 on distortion of ring- and c-shaped steel-components. The steel components are machined from tubes of three 16NiCrS4 heats, being dissimilar in alloying content and hardenability. After stress relief annealing, the steel-components were measured using either 3D-scanner or coordinate measuring machine. Subsequently, they were hardened, without carburization, using oil, gas or salt as quenchant. The components were measured in their hardened state and their distortion determined. The results clearly show the effects of hardenability and quenching on distortion. Moreover, these results are discussed in relation to production follow-up in industrial heat-treatment workshops. It is realized that to effectively handle distortion originating from hardenability; material, processing and component design has to be associated.