SPRINGFIELD M1903 SEMI-AUTO EXPERIMENTAL RIFLE
Unmarked Springfield model 1903 .30-06 Sprg Semi-Automatic Experimental Rifle. 43.25" total length. Walnut stock. Blued finish. Leather sling. Bayonet lug. 1-24 graduated rear ladder sight. No visible serial number or marks on barrel, or receiver. No visible cartouche. “U” stamped on 2nd barrel band.
Provenance: From the personal collection of Melville Eastham, early radio pioneer and a founder of the General Radio Company. Born in Oregon City, OR on June 26th, 1885. Following high school graduation from Portland Academy, he worked as an electrician for a Portland street railway before moving to New York City in 1905 where he worked for the Ovington X-ray Company. Taking note that the high-voltage spark coils used to excite X-ray tubes were becoming popular as transmitters for radio amateurs, he moved to Boston in 1906. Here, he was a co-founder of the Clapp-Eastham Company, manufacturers of radio receiving and transmitting equipment. In 1915, Mr. Eastham founded General Radio to manufacture electrical measuring equipment. His company experienced a boom in business with strong private and military demand for radios during World War I and the growth of the radio broadcasting market which followed.
He served as president until 1944, when transitioned to the title of chief engineer. He retired in 1950.
During World War II, Mr. Eastham served in the Office of Scientific Research and Development where he led the LORAN radio navigation development efforts at MIT’s Radiation Laboratory.
Mr. Eastham also was a pioneer in employee relations. His company instituted the 40-hour week and paid vacations as early as 1915. Company-financed life insurance and profit-sharing followed shortly after.
Mr. Eastham passed away in Cambridge, MA on May 6th, 1964 at the age of 78. 
SPRINGFIELD M1903 SEMI-AUTO EXPERIMENTAL RIFLE | Proxibid 
. Experimental and possibly one of a kind semi-automatic rifle built on a Model 1903 Springfield Action. This rifle, serial no. 389864, is illustrated and briefly described on pages 6 and 7 of “THE GAS TRAP GARAND” by Billy Pyle. The caption describes this rifle as an “enigmatic M1903 conversion, inventor unknown. This rifle, which has a fixed barrel and no gas system, appears to be primer-actuated.” The rifle has a standard Model 1903 barrel, rear sight, upper and lower barrel bands, buttplate and front sight. The barrel and receiver have standard Model 1903 Springfield markings; the barrel is dated “1-10”. The bolt, receiver, trigger guard and stock have been extensively modified. The receiver has been extended by approximately six-inches to accommodate the modified bolt. A seven inch section of walnut has been added between the original Model 1903 buttstock and forearm to fit the extended receiver. The trigger guard finial has been extended several inches. The stock and most of the rifle components are early Springfield Model 1903 pieces c. 1910. However the rifle has a post-WWI course checkered buttplate and flat faced rear sight windage knob which, as the Billy Pile description suggests, may indicate that the actual modification took place in the 1920s using a pre-WWI Model 1903 rifle. The bolt is polished bright and the receiver, trigger guard and other furniture has a professional commercial blue finish. The early style “S” stock has been refinished and has traces of the original circled “P” proofmark on the wrist and a small “S” on the forearm tip. The stock modifications are professionally done and are barely visible on initial inspection. The added section matches the butt and forearm very closely in grain and finish. This is a rare and unique rifle that appears to have been modified in the early 1920s as one of the first attempts to design a semi-automatic rifle to replace the bolt action Model 1903 Rifle. 
A Gas-Operated M1903 Conversion That Never Was | An Official Journal Of The NRA This is a unique example of an early gas-operated semi-automatic prototype rifle built using what was originally a late 1915 dated Springfield Armory Model 1903 bolt action rifle. The U.S. Ordnance Department had expressed an interest in adopting a suitable semi-automatic small arm capable of handling a high power cartridge in military service from the day the Model 1903 bolt action was put into service. The advantages of a semi-automatic rifle were seen in the ability to increase the odds of a soldier effectively landing a follow up shot at distance rather than having to manually rack the bolt back between every shot, which creates movement and in turn loses the line of sight; a recurring problem that would be experienced by soldiers in World War I when trying to follow up a shot on a barely visible enemy helmet peeking over the trench line a few hundred yards away. Many inventors came forth with different semi-automatic rifle systems to the Ordnance Department in the early 1900s before the later official adoption of what became the M1 Garand. Some of which were intended as possible means of converting the standard Model 1903 rifle in which the U.S. Government would entertain selling rifles to inventors for said purpose, with many promptly rejected due to reliability issues including breakage and concerns with the ability to attach a bayonet. The consideration of high powered semi-automatic rifle development by the Ordnance Department was briefly halted during U.S. involvement in World War I, with attention turned towards the war effort. This unidentified example wearing a late 1915 dated barrel appears to have been developed right around the time of U.S. entry into the war, which may explain in part why the inventor has not been positively identified. Two gas vent holes are visible underneath the barrel towards the muzzle. Upon disassembly, it can be determined a gas tube and spring would have been mounted below the barrel but are now absent, and an empty cavity is visible inside the stock channel. The right side mounted charging handle stays fixed during semi-automatic fire but is used for manual operation of the bolt for loading via stripper clip. The Model 1903 bolt has its handle modified to now work as a cam that rotates inside the track of the top mounted cover. The top mounted cover acts as an operating rod in that it rides in rails on either side of the stock and is moved under gas pressure in order to operate the bolt, returning back to closed position via spring pressure (spring absent). Standard M1903 blade front sight with hood and ladder rear sight with 2,850 yard notch, “SA/flaming bomb/12-15” marked on the end of the standard 1903 barrel, receiver ring still retains the original Springfield Armory markings, serrated trigger, and standard trigger housing. The modified stock is fitted with a standard M1903 hand guard, barrel bands, and checkered buttplate with compartment. Includes a 1917 dated Rock Island Arsenal M1907 leather sling. This rifle shares slight visual similarities with later made examples of Snabb semi-automatic rifles, designed by Swedish inventor Harry Erik Rehnberg and built using various types of bolt action rifles. Information and similar examples of early high power semi-automatic rifles based on the Model 1903 are pictured in the book “The Gas Trap Garand” by Billy Pyle on pages 1-14, in which inventors are mentioned including the rifles submitted and tested by Samuel N. McClean, John L. Murphy, Daniel J. Manning, John Thompson, Wilford J. Hawkins, William D. Condit, Franklin K. Young, Grant Hammond, John C. Stergian, Creedy C. Sheppard, and Søren Hansen Bang.
But I read enough to give a thumbs up to the gun. 
I mean, it’s experimental and DF seems to love experimental guns.