A knowledge of the resdual stress distribution at circumferential weldments can normally increase the accuracy of a fracture assessment in pipe line. In this paper, we present the measurements about the residual stress distributions at three kinds of circumferential butt welded pipes using the holl drilling strain gage method. By this experiment, we have obtined the following characteristics. At the inner surface of the pipe region near the center line of welding is under high tensile residual stress. However, as the distance from the center line of welding increases, the tensile component decreases and finally becomes compressive residual stress at region far away from the center line of welding. The longitudinal residual stress at the outer surface is compressive regardless of the diameter of pipe and the circumferential stress is changed from compressive to tensile as pipe diameter increases. The results also demonstrate that the residual stress is mainly caused by self-restraint bending force in the pipe welding.