In order to optimize the conditions for residual stress measurement using a two-dimensional X-ray diffraction (2D-XRD) in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. The measurements have been conducted on three stainless steel specimens in this study. The three specimens were processed by annealing, a cavitating jet in air and a disc grinder, with each method introducing different residual stresses at the surface. The specimens were oscillated in the ω-direction, representing a right-hand rotation of the specimen about the incident X-ray beam. The range of the oscillation, Δω, was varied and optimum Δω was determined. Moreover, combinations of the tilt angle between the specimen surface normal and the diffraction vector, ψ, with the rotation angle about its surface normal, f, have been studied with a view to find the most optimum condition. The results show that the use of ω oscillations is an effective method for improving analysis accuracy, especially for large grain metals. The standard error rapidly decreased with increasing range of the ω oscillation, especially for the annealed specimen which generated strong diffraction spots due to its large grain size.