The effects of cooling rate on the microstructures, precipitation of Cu-cluster, .epsilon.-Cu and impact toughness of high strength low alloy(HSLA) steel were studied using hardness tester, impact tester, DSC(differential scanning calorimetry), AES(auger electron spectroscopy) and TEM(transmission electron microscopy). Not only the Cu-precipitates but also the segregation of Cu, As, Sb, P, S, N, Sn along grain boundary were not observed at the specimens heat treated from 800.deg. C to 300.deg. C with the cooling time of 12-125 sec. The Cu-cluster, .epsilon.-Cu are formed by introducing ageing after cooling and the effect of precipitates on hardening increase after cooling was the same in all cooling rate. The peak hardness was obtained at an ageing of 500.deg. C in all cooling conditions. The impact energy become higher as the cooling time increases. This fact can be explained to be due to the tempering effect applied on the cooling stage since the present alloy has a relatively high Ms temperature and the local high concentration of the retained austenite.