Eric, The stripper clip cut would be at the back of the action opening. INstead of being smooth there would be a cut about 1/2" wide and 1/2" long going into the front of the rear bridge. A picture from the top of the receiver without the scope base on would make it real easy to tell but there is no need to take all that off just to satisfy my curiosity. It was my understanding that all National Match M70's had this cut but with a rifle like this that was special ordered who knows? I'm guessing it doesn't have the clip slot because if it did you would have mentioned how hard it was to find bases for it as the rear hole spacing is different than other M70's.

It is a beuatiful rifle, if only WInchester kept better records at the time to be able to be 100% sure it was original but IMO I would say that it most likely is all original. It's a shame you couldn't get some documentation from the original owner. I hope you know what a special, and VERY valuable, rifle you have there!

Thanks for sharing!