A pulsed glow discharge is used for sputtering in the presence of a gas flow to form a metal vapour jet suitable for use in a room-temperature metal vapour laser. It is found that the sputtering process is most efficient during the first 50 mu s of the discharge pulse. Switching the discharge in the burst mode with a pulse duration of about 15 mu s and an interpulse delay of about 18 mu s achieves similar metal vapour concentrations in the jet to that attained by steady-pulse sputtering, but requires only half the total discharge energy.