The cocking piece is already hard. The cam surface on the bolt is softer steel. You might try some Molykote "G" lube or any real moly lube on the mating surfaces and cycle it a hundred or a lot more times. Impinging moly into the contact surfaces can only reduce friction and ease operation.
Another problem can be too much spring pressure. You don't need more than 22#-24# spring pressure at "cocked" length. A high pressure spring can cause problems. While you are messing around with things, insure that the contact surfaces of the shroud and the sides of the cocking piece are smooth and not binding.
BAT and Browning improve there cocking pieces by installing a small hardened wheel that functions as a rolling bearing. I think that this would really help Remingtons but have not yet tried it.
