Regularly coiled carbon filaments have been obtained by the catalytic pyrolysis of acetylene at 350–750 °C using Ni plate and powder as a catalyst. Morphology and extension characteristics of the obtained coiled filaments were examined in some detail. The regularly coiled filaments have generally a 0.1–0.3 &mgr;m thickness, a 2–8 &mgr;m coil diameter, and a 0.1–5 mm coil length. The coiled filaments were always formed by the entwistness of two pair coils which grew in the same direction simultaneously from a diamond‐shaped Ni seed. We have found that the coiled filaments could be elastically extended up to about three times versus the original coil length.