More than 15 components occur in the friction materials for disc brake pads. Copper in the form of powder or fibres is counted among reinforcers and it plays an important role in the braking process. The brake pads tested, reinforced with a 2% admixture (by weight) of copper powder or fibres, were manufactured in a normal production process at the TOMEX Company. The tests were carried out on a T-11 (“pin-ondisc”) test machine for small specimens prepared from the friction material under consideration and on a Kraus test machine, where finished brake pads were examined. The test conditions were close to the normal brake operation conditions. The brake discs used as counter-specimens were made of grey cast iron with flake graphite. According to the test results obtained from both test machines, the values of the coefficient of friction were higher and the wear was bigger for the material reinforced with fibres as against those recorded for the material where powder was used as the reinforcer. Observations of the material structure carried out on a scanning microscope JEOL JSM-6360LA and the nature of the material wear observed on an optical profiler BRUKER Contour GT have confirmed the test results.