Found this in a gun forum:
Use 1095 steel. O1 or 1080 will work, too.
Make the springs in the annealed state. Drill holes and polish the springs.
Using a firebrick or other heat reflective material, heat the spring to bright red and quench in canola oil immediately. If the spring is properly hardened, a file will skate off the surface. If the file does not skate, the spring will never work, so re-harden until you get the proper hardness.
Once hardened, all discoloration must be polished off the spring. Polish to bright steel.
Using the torch on a low setting, gently heat the spring to just past blue color and let it air cool. Keep the torch moving over the work to heat it evenly.
Done-you have a spring.
What Bill says is spot on but it can sometimes be difficult to get the heat even for the final stage - if the spring is too hard it snaps like a carrot 
and if it is too soft it will stay bent and not āspringā . What I do for the final stage is to place the spring in a shallow pan of motor oil (an old tobbaco tin is good), heat the oil until it starts to burn and keep it burning untill it is all gone but dont play the flame on the spring . You then let it cool down and there you go it is cooked just right.
If you can bend the steel, and it stays that way-it is annealed. There should be no issues in your case. Drastic bends (90 degrees +) should be made at red heat.
Should you need to anneal your steel, heat it to red, and let it air cool.
Please understand that the steel has to be of a type that has enough carbon content to make a spring. Just any steel wonāt do.
