An alternate to most of the tools mentioned above, put your damn thumb in the action area, your thumb will reflect enough light off the nail to clearly see, as well as block the action from chambering or firing a round if one somehow magically appears.
That said, while I don't personally like doing it, there's nothing really wrong with it as you've already removed the magazine and ensured the chamber is clear. Looking down the muzzle is simply to ensure you have no obstruction, such as dirt, snow, cleaning tool parts or a bullet (From a squib load or whatever other reason)
To touch on Cobra JR's first comment about certain types of firearms, have fun barrel checking a Lever Action or most .22 without doing this. It's easy on bolt actions, not so much on some other guns, unless you want to strip them down a bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShelledPants
Sure. Muzzle loaders. You can't really observe the bore from the rear, and you have to basically stick your face in front of potentially live powder to check the bore for obstruction. I have 0 experience with them though.
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You NEVER put your face, or as much of your body as is avoidable, over the muzzle of a muzzle loader if it's state is even remotley in question.
As I am a black powder shooter:
Flintlock - Remove flint, ensure fizzle pan is clear, use your loading rod to check. Any BP shooter who's even semi smart will mark their loading rod for this reason. Usually two lines, one to indicate empty, the other to indicate the proper load level. Some will make a third to indicate ball, but a load level would indicate this based on the powder charge.
Percussion - Same as above.
Revolvers - You're checking the cylinders and nipples. No cap on the nipple means the gun isn't legally loaded and has no ignition source, now, inspect the cylinders (From the front, as that's how you load the charge and shot), once this is done, try look down the barrel in you can angle a light source, though it's unlikely. I usually just shove a cleaning brush down until I can see it in the cylinder gap
Other muzzle loaders are the same as flint, with different mechanisms. Simply remove whatever ignites them. Majority of these are rather rare, I can count the number of Wheel Lock and Matchlock firearms I've seen, outside of display and museum pieces, on two fingers.
My training/experience:
9 years CF reserve
Shooting with family since about 6 years old
8 years of owning my own guns and being OCD about their safe handling.