Extremely stiff door handle button

[Kern Dog]

I know that this is a strange topic but here goes....
The right side door handle in my 70 Charger has a really stiff button. I don't think about it much except when I expect to take the wife along on a road trip.
I usually open the door for her in everything we drive. It is just what I do.
My drivers door seems just fine. No stiffness in the button of any kind but the passenger side is really hard to press. The door has never been hit. The latch seemed fine when I had it out for paint in 2003. The linkage wasn't in a bind as far as I could tell. Does anyone have insight about what could be to blame? Do the latches somehow fail? The door closes fine, no rust in any part of any of it. I'll pull it soon to get a look but I thought I'd check in to see if anyone has dealt with this before.

[70 sublime]

I would think it is not the button part that is giving you grief but the mechanisim that the rods will have to pull to release the catch itself
The passenger door get used a lot less then the driver door
All the grease has dried out and just needs a little oil on it to make it happy again

[Kern Dog]

I had the door panel off today. I took some PB Blaster and sprayed the latch and lock mechanisms on the inside.
The button does work a little easier but is still harder to push than the drivers side.
It isn't perfect but it is better than it was.

[armor64]

is there an oring or anything around the button to "seal" it out on the handle? i cant recall well, but swear i saw an old, crusty oring or rubber band on the old handles button i took off a while back. Also, the pivot/spring on my new repro handles had no grease or anything and were super stiff for the first test pushes when i coated them before install, maybe the pivot got rusty?

[b5blue]

FSM calls for Lithium Grease on all moving parts and inside the latch housing itself. I use spray can type to inject. PB will not lube long term.