Gamma-ray production cross sections were measured for (n, n′y) reactions in 56Fe, 58,60,62Ni, 93Nb, and 181Ta for neutron energies from threshold to 1.8 MeV. Neutron inelastic scattering level excitation functions were then obtained from the gamma-ray production cross sections by correcting for internal conversion and for cascading transitions. A 17-cm3 Ge(Li) spectrometer system was used to measure the gamma-ray spectra. The experimental results were compared with statistical model calculations using optical model transmission coefficients. Corrections for resonance interference and width fluctuations were also included in the computations. In general, the calculated results agreed with experiment to within the quoted error. Furthermore, the results for the deformed nucleus 181Ta indicated that a spherical optical model potential may be used successfully to obtain the level excitation functions for this nucleus.