An Inconel Alloy 600 C-ring was subjected to various strain levels and the deformation process was monitored by a Computer Aided Rocking Curve Analyzer (CARCA). A large grain population was sampled, and the calibration curve of average rocking curve halfwidth of the individual grains relating to the nominal strain was established. The strain distribution as a function of the angular position along the peripheral surface layer and layers at different depth distance was obtained. Up to C-ring closure at the nominal strain of 3.3% at the apex, the induced plastic strains were confined to a surface layer of 30–40 gm in depth.The largest strain and strain gradients below the surface occurred at the apex and near apex region. The extent and the spread of microdeformation inhomogeneity increased with applied strain. At ring closure some grains exhibited large plastic strains while others exhibited only small plastic strains or were not affected by the deformation process at all. These experimental results were not in agreement with the current theoretical understanding of the deformation of C-ring since these theories did not take shape changes into account. When such changes were included, good agreement on the angular strain dependence for the apex and near apex region were achieved between experiment and theory. It was concluded that the CARCA X-ray method can be a useful research tool in aiding and guiding mathematical modeling of non-linear inelastic behavior of solids by disclosing important microstructural and micromechanical aspects.