I remember reading the criticism of the 5.56 back in 1976.
Too light a bullet for hunting. Good only for varmints.
Too much flex in the AR rifle. A spread of hits on target was about 6 inches at 100 yds.
Icky Plastic!
The AR rifles often sat on the shelves for months. No one wanted them (except me).
Then Mel Tappan started his Survival Weapons in GUNS AND AMMO MAGAZINE.
Suddenly everyone wanted an AR-15! Even scrapped M-16 rifles were parted out and used in new AR-15s of various quality, some really bad. (Mine, [SGW brand] turned it’s bullets sideways at 50 yds.)
The AR-180 and Mini-14 filled the gap until new AR-15s came off the assembly line.
Now everyone wants one!
Hmmm.. SGW was the predecessor of Olympic Arms, and owned by a student of P. O. Ackley. I’m surprised it was that bad. I wonder if you had a twist rate/ bullet weight issue going on. That said, I saw a pretty wonkitty early production Olympic with a cast receiver at a gunshow, once. Panic buying caused someone to drag it out and put a high$ price on it.