There are hundreds of different grades of stainless steel on the market. Each of these unique formulations of stainless steel offer some degree of corrosion resistance above and beyond that of plain steel.

The existence of these stainless steel variants can cause some confusion—especially when the names & formulations of two stainless steel alloys are almost the same. This is the case with grade 304 and 304L stainless steel.

Here’s a quick table comparing stainless steel material properties for these two 300 series metals:

Why Would You Want to Use 304L, Then?

If 304L is weaker than standard 304 stainless steel, why would anyone want to use it?

The answer is that the 304L alloy’s lower carbon content helps minimize/eliminate carbide precipitation during the welding process. This allows 304L stainless steel to be used in the “as-welded” state, even in severely corrosive environments.

If you were to use standard 304 stainless in the same way, it would degrade much faster at the weld joints.

Basically, using 304L eliminates the need to anneal weld joints prior to using the completed metal form—saving time and effort.

In practice, both 304 and 304L can be used for many of the same applications. The differences are often minor enough that one isn’t considered massively more useful over the other. When stronger corrosion resistance is needed, other alloys, such as grade 316 stainless steel, are usually considered as an alternative.