I played a game where a player fired sticky trio and each sticky bomb did 40 dmg. The problem is that the sticky trio hit an enemy which was beyond 11 degrees away (as you probably know the distance at which maximum damage is dealt for distance based weapons is 11 degrees). If the sticky trio was lvl 4 it would deal 39 dmg each and if lvl 5 - 42 dmg each. I made a screenshot but it was too late so I dont have a proof, but I always use my fingers to aim and I know with pinpoint accuracy how much 11 degrees are. The distance here was about was about 13-14 degrees. Any explanation?
i'm not 100% sure if i fully understood your problem but one thing that comes to my mind is.. are you sure it was death match? cause it not then of course the damage was also influenced by the factor of player's armor