Winchester's largest customer of the Model 1895 was the Russians during WWI. They bought like around 230,000 in 7.62x54R, the same caliber as their Mosin Nagant. They were set up for stripper clips. The Russians that received these rifles were happy with these rifles. Possibly because of the cowboy mystique. They weren't favored by the US Military due to the cocking issues when shooting from a trench, as Paul pointed out. Also, too much of the guts were exposed when cocking, which could lead to dirt getting in the action. This being John Browning's last lever action design was an improvement as it allowed for spitzer bullets. But it came out when bolt actions were coming into vogue and the lever action fans liked the old-styled cowboy guns. The 1895 was a just a bit too new-fangled.