Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! The Ithaca X5-T Lightning is one of those “what if” guns that got buried by history. Everyone knows the Remington Nylon 66, but fewer people remember Ithaca was building their own space-age .22 semi-auto at the same time – and doing some things better. This one with the original box and manual shows what Ithaca was shooting for. That 22-inch barrel and walnut stock looked normal compared to Remington’s radical plastic design, but the guts were pure 1960s innovation. The action runs clean and fast with fewer feeding problems than early semi-auto .22s.
Poor engineering didn’t kill the Lightning – timing and marketing muscle did. Remington had the ad budget to make the Nylon 66 a household name. Ithaca was still the shotgun company. By the time shooters figured out how well the X5-T worked, production was over. The “T” means target version with better sights and trigger. Ithaca got that .22 semi-autos weren’t just plinkers – built right, they could be real precision tools. That clean bore shows someone who knew what they had and took care of it. Finding one with the original box is getting rare. Most X5-T Lightnings spent decades bouncing around gun shops and estate sales, their significance lost on buyers chasing bigger names. This survivor represents Ithaca’s brief moment in the semi-auto spotlight before they went back to shotguns.
“Ithaca Model X5-T Lightning Semi-Automatic Rifle with Box.” Rock Island Auction Company, https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/5012/717/ithaca-model-x5t-lightning-semiautomatic-rifle-with-box. Accessed 25 Jul. 2025.
Writer | TheFirearmBlog
Writer | AllOutdoor.com Instagram | sfsgunsmith Old soul, certified gunsmith, published author, avid firearm history learner, and appreciator of old and unique guns.
Trending Products
