Talon SS becoming very difficult to cock.

My .22 Talon SS is around 7 years old and all of a sudden I’m having a very difficult time cocking the gun. It takes an incredible amount of force to push the cocking lever all the way forward. The slide is lubed. I’ve taken it apart and there’s nothing obviously wrong. Has anyone seen this and fixed it? Any suggestions on how to get it back to being smooth and easy to cock?