Friction hardening was employed to improve the tribological properties of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel (ASS 316L). The process was conducted using a hard indenter (74 ± 1 HRC) under the travel speeds of 90, 180, and 360 mm/s for 30 and 60 passes. The results showed that FH increased the surface hardness of annealed ASS 316L alloy by 180%. The sliding wear tests also showed the positive impact of FH on the wear resistance and friction behaviour. For instance, at the applied pressure of 1 MPa, the wear rate and coefficient of friction (COF) of FHed ASS 316L sample (90 mm/s, 30 passes) were reduced by 68 and 20%, respectively, as compared to those of the annealed sample.