Norm,
I got mine to help measure/approximate with sculpture work, which could tolerate some variation. Accuracy for your needs would probably be much less forgiving.
Briefly being a fly on the wall around member Scott White's very methodical scanning of vehicles and foundry-related sculpture scanning elsewhere, I expect you might have to do some of the same things to manage the readings. Things like being far from perpendicular and specifically tangent will probably significantly disrupt your readings. Trying to read a very crooked surface might produce a reading that was convenient to the meter instead of a reading of what you want. For example, the meter might read the closer edge of that circular area instead of the desired center.
I understood that the ability to define/isolate what you are measuring to be a major benefit of the laser method. That meter I have may capture a dimension from a larger area, such as a larger circular area instead of a pinpoint, which would probably make it ineffective for the application we're considering here.
For reference, I regularly point sculpture work the old fashioned way with either pointing machine or compasses. The benefits and pitfalls haven't really changed over the centuries. Only the equipment has. I lean towards simplicity because it is a more serviceable approach.
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