I load my Pedersoli model 74 Sharps 45-70 volumetrically. When I pour the charge into the drop tube, it's a manual operation. I hold the case at the bottom of the tube while I pour the charge into the funnel end from a small, spouted brass dish (the kind you get with a scale, yes, I have one). It seems to help to sing "I'm a little teapot, short and stout" while I do this.
Now this part everyone needs to read carefully: I hate having to be part of the apparatus. Why do I have to be careful to pour the powder slowly? Isn't there a metering device I could buy somewhere that would slow pour the powder for me? Or a drop tube that mechanically retards the flow of the powder into the case in some way? Or maybe I just don't understand the concept of a drop tube.
I know! I'll buy an old windmill......