Efficient operation (5.0%) of the long‐pulse (0.5 &mgr;sec) XeCl laser is obtained by electron‐beam pumping of mixtures of neon, xenon, and HCl. Laser emission is observed at 308.0 and 308.2 nm. A small‐signal gain of 2.6% cm−1is measured from which the saturation intensity is calculated to be ∼0.35 MW cm−2and the optical absorption at the laser wavelength is calculated to be ∼0.26% cm−1. The electron‐beam‐pumped XeCl laser can be operated under static fill conditions with no measurable degradation in output power.