New challange! Old problem!

[G.T.]

Hello to all, well, the latest quest has reared its ugly head over the weekend! And it's not one for the timid! I have on my bench, a WW1 Luger drum magazine with a broken (in several places!) mainspring! First off, the spring, even when broken, is just short of impossible to remove, and probably the same to install as well?... And, talk about over kill, it has approx. a 92" relaxed length all scrunched up in a 2.750" dia. and this is without tension!!!.....All this, just to preload approx. 250 degrees of rotation??... So, my questions are.. has anyone ever attempted this repair/replacement? And, most importantly, is there a source for springs either original or aftermarket? And maybe even more importantly, is there any need for these springs or are they a rare occurrence on the breakage issue?... If anyone has one setting around, or a drum that is otherwise disabled, let me know, best to all, til...lat'r....GT....