The purpose of this work was to evaluate the influence of phosphorus quantity of the matrix of a nickel alloy on microstructure and hardness of nickel composite with hexagonal boron nitride - h-BN. The work was carried out using two nickel alloys with varying quantities of phosphorus (0.3 and 0.75wt.%). The quantity of particles of solid lubricant added to the alloy was 10 vol.% of h-BN. The samples were compacted at 600MPa and sintered at 1150 degrees C for 60 min in plasma. The results showed that the composite with 0.3wt.% of phosphorus had hardness of 236 HV 0.025 (+/- 34,25) and the composite with 0.75wt.% of phosphorus had hardness of 326 HV 0.025 (+/- 38,90), and formation of pellets of h-BN with a size between 50 and 100 mu m and low porosity due to the formation of liquid phase of phosphide during sintering which carries the lubricant fine particles of approximately 10 mu m dispersed in the microstructure during pore coalescence. As a result, the quantity of phosphorus present may influence the microstructural properties (pore number and size and distribution of particles of solid lubricant) and hardness which are so important for the development of self-lubricating composites, particularly, the nickel alloy/h-BN composites.