Commencing about the middle of the 20 th century, considerable attention was given by researchers to the problem of obtaining the ultimate strength of metal columns with residual stresses. In this paper, the ultimate strength of a column with residual stresses is described. A “modified Shanley model” is also studied to estimate approximately the maximum load of a column and to show the influence of the initial deflection on the column behavior. The test results were referred to show the experimental verification. Conclusively the following is found, under the existence of considerable residual stresses like cooling residuals or welding residual stresses, the ultimate strength of a column may be considerably reduced, but might be much higher than the tangent modulus load calculated by means of a cross-section test (stub column test).