L x-rays excited from thick elemental targets of Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Rh, Pd, Ag and Sn by proton impact in the energy range 50–300 keV were measured with a high-resolution Si(Li) detector equipped with an ultra-thin window. The L sub-shell x-ray production cross sections were determined from a thick-target analysis of the x-ray yields. These were compared with the ECPSSR theory along with various atomic parameter databases and including modifications using the united-atom (UA) binding energy correction.