The applicability of the active criteria for estimating the metastability of austenite for predicting the operating capacity of high-alloy corrosion-resistant alloys based on iron and nickel in a single-phase preliminarily quenched condition in a temperature range of up to 500 - 650°C is analyzed. The temperature and time ranges of formation of excess phases are determined and fragments of C -curves are plotted. The effect of preliminary cold plastic deformation on the kinetics of aging and on the morphology of segregation of particles of second phases is studied.