The invention relates to a
high carbon steel
wire rod with tensile strength of more than 1,200 MPa and surface shrinkage of more than 35 percent and a preparation method thereof. The
high carbon steelwire rod comprises the base components of C, Si, Mn, Cr and the like, selective components of Ni, Cu, Al, B, Ti, Nb, Mo and the like, and the balance of Fe and impurities. The preparation method comprises the following procedures of
smelting,
casting, rolling and cooling control sequentially, wherein the rolling-starting temperature of the rolling procedure is controlled between 1,000 DEG C and 1,100 DEG C, the
spinning temperature is 870-930 DEG C, the cooling controlling procedure is carried out by adopting Steyr cooling control, rapid cooling is adopted before the
phase change and at the earlier stage of the
phase change, and the
slow cooling is adopted at the later stage of the
phase change. The
high carbon steel
wire rod has excellent mechanical performance, less
alloy elements and low cost; and meanwhile, the preparation method is realized by only less adjusting the prior production process of the high
carbon steel wire rod without nearly adding any production cost.