G'day Eddy_t.... Can you pull the clutch drum and take a pic of the lip? that would give a good idea of how warn the drum is...It looks very blue on the outside and that's not a good sign,But as you have said and from your pics the damage to the bottom of the drive links is not what I would call normal for a new bar? it kind of looks like what happens when a bar is worn out and the drive links bottom out in the bar grove?.... Well this is all very interesting with a few odd things going on at the same time, I hope we all can help you work out what the problem is and get your 070 cutting as it should Cheers .....Here is a pic of my 090AV View attachment 405323
drum will be replaced regardless whether the lip are worn or not,
but it was usable when the dealer and myself put back the saw together when rebuilding
blue metal are bad metal , seriously bluish mark will cause metal to slip and it wont hold sharpness(studied engineering)
its very confusing, this kind of chain wear are seen on well used or beat up bars
usually when the rails are damaged like chipped off or gone down too low
the bar was brand new stihl 30" duromatic solid nose, it looks almost perfect in my eyes
the rail and groove are as good as any new ones
i dont think chinese stihl bar copy exists, but i could be wrong
wood chip got stuck between chain and bar once had to dislodge it with pulling saw on wood backwards
that was all but dont think it will damage the drive links these bad