I've been thinking about the suspended weight and got to wondering if spreading the weight out over an inch or two would affect the way the arrow bends. It seems to me that pressing at two points would result in a different reading than pressing at one point. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to suspend the weight from an eye-screw that the arrow passes through. This would concentrate the pressure at one point, and yet the weight should hang the same way each time, since the roundness of the eye-screw should act much like a couple rollers. The plunger on the dial caliper would have to sit a fraction to the side, but I can't imagine that would affect the reading to a noticable degree.

Thanks for the lead idea. I no longer have my sinker-making gear, but I could easily drill a hole down the center of a piece of hardwood and then fill it with lead to the appropriate level. Then I'd put a lid on with the eye-screw attached to the lid and maybe it would work. . .

And I'll have those cold beers after I finish making the weight.