Gad, now there's a trip down memory lane. As I recall, it was a puff-piece, but then, I was just turning 13yo that August, so what would I know. ;-)
I recall the puff piece criticism, too. I re-read it and found it to be somewhat honest about the jamming problem blamed on weak mags. They sure were not doing hard-hitting expose journalism.
Were you a Pop Sci reader? Couldn’t have been many girl readers at the time. It was my favorite mag from about age 10 to 18. First mag I ever subscribed to — I think the subscription was a Christmas gift from Mom & Dad. Dad was an mechanical engr and this was one of many things he did to set me off on the same path. He was really smart that way.