Like most carbide-based composites, the two main characteristics of aluminatungsten carbide (Al2O3WC) composites are high hardness and high wear resistance. These features confer the composites important engineering applications, in particular when they are used as cutting tools. The present research involved a study of Al2O3WC nanometric powders obtained through reactive mil領(lǐng). In this process, high-energy mil領(lǐng) promotes the reaction in a mixture of reactive powders. The material was milled in a high-energy SPEX 8000 Mixer/Mill, using WO3,Al and C precursor powders. The highly exothermic self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) type reaction was self-sustained, producing a temperature peak that was detected by a thermocouple attached to the external surface of the vessel. Using stoichiometric proportions of the reagents to reduce theWO3 and to obtainWC, and adding Al2O3 as diluent, the SHS reaction occurred up to a limit of 0.8mols of diluent, forming not only alumina but also aW2C mixture with littleWC. To obtain onlyWC it was required the addition of more than 0.8mols of C, which indicates that the reaction may have occurred through a gaseous phase reaction mechanism.