Abstract: The history and current status of metal vapor lasers excited by pulsed discharge are reviewed. The lasing mechanisms different of selfterminating and resonancemetastable transitions and collision radiation recombination are explained according to the laser emission process. We report our new results in metal vapor laser development including the observation of simultaneous laser oscillations in different lasing media with different mechanisms, multiline laser action in alkalineearth metal halides, and a new type of metal vapor laser known as M-M transition lasers.