Is this a Schlage Interchangeable Core lock or a regular deadbolt/doorknob lock?
If this is a residential lock, then it has only one shear line. (And, in either case, pushing the pins higher wouldn't make it easier to pick: it's actually different breaks in the pinstack that interact with the two shear lines in an interchangeable core... so, for any given pin, the cut for the upper shearline could be shallower, deeper or the same as the cut for the lower shearline.)
Schlage locks have much better tolerances than many of the cheaper locks (e.g., Kwikset), so this is likely an issue with the amount of tension that you're applying. I went through a similarly frustrating period when I first started working with locks with tighter tolerances: they're not nearly so easy as the Master padlock that we all started with.
