Thats a great question, I don't know when this rifle was turned over to the NRA, why it was turned over, could have been any time in the last 100 years, I have tried to contact the NRA Museum and they will NOT give out ANY information on test/evaluation guns they worked on. I"m trying to find reference books on 1917"s, have one by CS Ferris (United StatesRifle Model of 1917), not a single word about test/evaluation rifles.
Its one of those mysteries, that sometimes goes un answered, and sometimes there is a firearms person who knows the answer