A method for fabricating an article includes forming a billet consisting essentially of a stainless steel composition of manganese 2.00 wt. %-24.00 wt. % chromium 19.00 wt. %-30 wt. % molybdenum 0.50 wt. %-4.0 wt. % nitrogen 0.25 wt. %-1.10 wt. % carbon ≤1 wt. % phosphorus ≤0.03 wt. % sulfur ≤1 wt. % nickel <22 wt. % cobalt <0.10 wt. % silicon ≤1 wt. % niobium ≤0.80 wt. % oxygen ≤1 wt. % copper ≤0.25 wt. % balance iron.
The billet is annealed and cold worked to form an article. Without annealing of the article, the article is subsequently case hardened at a single case hardening temperature to form a surface layer on a top surface thereof. Articles formed with the indicated stainless steel composition with case hardened surface layers are also provided.