"What did people do before the advent of special non static case neck fitting wonder funnels? Make their own? "
I don't know. I started in '65 and proper funnels were common then.
"Static seems to be the problem, tried getting a few charges from the pan to the case before i read this."
Static is 'A' problem if not THE problem, especially with plastics not chosen for the job. And, swiping a dampen cloth with a rub of soap over a static charged surface will kill it.