Sometimes, I don't think we give enough credit to the capabilities of our forefathers from the 19th century. It's test devices like that rifle that were the basis for the tapers rifle barrels have.

While a tranducer certainly has some advantages, the need for statistically significant samples still holds true.

As for giving transducer raw data in voltage or whatever, it would seem to me to be useless unless one knew what the comparative calibration of voltage/pressure was.