WC–12Ni hard coating was sprayed on the surface of 45 steel with a thickness of 300 ?m by using the LF–HVOF flame spray system. The hardness, phase structure and surface morphology of the hard coatings were characterized by microhardness tester, X–ray diffractometer and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The abrasive wear performance of the hard coatings was tested by using the wet sand rubber wheel abrasion tester, as compared with the 65Mn spring steel. The results showed that the WC–12Ni coatings is mainly composed of 2–10 ?m WC hard particles and face centered cubic bonded phase Ni with the hardness of 1020 HV0.3 and the porosity of 8%. With the decrease of sand to water ratio from 3∶1 to 3∶2 and load from 110 N to 40 N, the weight loss of WC–12Ni hard coating changed in the range of 53–80 mg, which was only one fourteenths of the weight loss of 65Mn spring steel. The wear mechanism of hard coatings is adhesive wear caused by local spalling and micro wear of hard particles, which could increase the working life of soil working components such as rotary blades.