A tiny bit stays inside the needle but not enough to explain this. Needle markings are never exact and neither are people's eyes. Some syringes bought online have scales that are noticeably off. What you're seeing sounds normal. Next time try mixing with 1.1 ml of bac water to give yourself a buffer. Most of these compounds come overfilled by 15-20 percent anyway.
Been using reta for roughly a month at the standard starting amount of 2 mg from the studies. Mixed one 10 mg vial with 1 ml of bacteriostatic water. Every time I dose I wash up, swab, stick the needle in, draw to the 21-22 line, tap, then push the plunger back to the 20 mark to clear bubbles and a little liquid. After the fourth shot the vial only had about 10 units or 1 mg left. Calculations said five full doses should still be there, so where did the missing milligram go?