Experimental study on the behavior of circular Q460 high strength steel reinforced concrete (SRC) columns under small eccentric compression was conducted, to investigate the failure mode and failure process. The SRC column presents typical flexural failure and shows good ductility. The development of the diagonal crack is effectively confined by the encased steel. The stress distribution and development of the steel reinforcement were studied using finite element method. It indicates that stress redistribution occurs due to the crushing of concrete, which results in the increase of the axial force and moment applied to the steel. The parameter effects were investigated. The compression-bending capacity of the SRC column increases approximately linearly with the increase in the steel reinforcement strength and steel ratio. The design theory of SRC column is enriched based on the comparison analysis on the flexural strengths of the SRC column calculated by the universal superposition method and the N-M correlation curve.