Jan. 16--Let's face it, guns aren't getting any cheaper. In fact, in many cases the value of used guns is increasing by leaps and bounds. That's why it's makes good sense to give the guns in your collection the best possible care.

For the most part, hunting seasons are over, at least until spring turkey. That's not the case for the avid varmint shooter, who will keep throwing lead all year long, but most shotguns and deer rifles have been put away to be stored for months to come. Now is the ideal time to give those favored shooting irons a well-deserved cleaning.

If there's one rule for good gun cleaning, it's this: Don't skimp on the quality of your cleaning products and materials.

Sure, you can cut that old T-shirt into a dozen or so cleaning patches, but when you get down to it, those kinds of rags just don't get out the grit and absorb grease and grime like good cotton flannel patches cut to the right size for the job.

Perhaps the best place to start with cleaning components is with rods. Most low-cost cleaning kits come with three- or four-section aluminum cleaning rods. They're best sent to the scrap yard for salvage value. Aluminum rods are known to do more harm than good. They often leave traces of aluminum in the barrel and have been known to cause undo wear to the muzzles of guns that cannot be cleaned from the breach.

Brass rods may be a cut above the cheap aluminum deals, but they're not much better. The best gunsmiths and those who really know guns insist on using one-piece steel rods. Some of the better quality steel rods are coated with a substance called Corvel. They certainly cost more that the cheaper aluminum or brass jobs, but they are a lifetime investment and the extra money spent will pay off in terms of additional useful barrel life of the firearm.

The same could be said for rod accessories -- jags, brushes and mops. When it comes to brushes it's a good idea to buy the best quality brass brushes available. A good brass brush will handle 90 percent of all gun barrel cleaning chores. One exception is cleaning copper fouling out of a barrel. Most copper-removing solvents are ammonia based and require nylon brushes.

Once the copper fouling is removed, run a few dry patches through the bore and clean as usual. When it comes to rod tips, jags, brushes, and mops, use the size recommended for the caliber or gauge you are cleaning.

If not available locally, steel cleaning rods and accessories may be purchased by mail order from such companies as Midway or Brownell's.

When it comes to cleaning solvents, virtually everyone is familiar with the old standby, Hoppe's No. 9.