If you have a 22 LR you pull the magazine rod dump the cartridges, open the action and check the chamber and remove the cartridge if necessary. Install the magazine rod and operate the action once more, for a final check to insure you have an empty magazine and the empty chamber.
Regarding center fire lever rifles, I never just jack then out of the rifle and onto the ground to be picked up later. Finger out of the trigger guard is not a guarantee that the gun can't or won't go off. When you operate the lever action to unload it that way, there is a period of time that the hammer is fully cocked and a cartridge is in the chamber. This moment of time when the negligent discharge can occur.
The way to avoid this is as follows;
Open the action all way to eject the loaded cartridge. When you go to close the action, only close it far enough to where you hear or feel the next cartridge being fed into the cartridge lifter mechanism. STOP, don't close the action any more. AT THIS POINT NOTICE THAT THE BOLT IS BACK , THE HAMMER IS UNDERNEATH THE BOLT AND IS NOT FUNCTIONABLE. Open the action up and tip the rifle on its side and dump the cartridge out of the action without installing it in the chamber. Repeat this process until the magazine is empty.
This method allows you to unload the rifle without chambering a cartridge.
Any lever action rifle can be and should be (IMHO) unloaded without fully cambering a cartridge. I unload my Winchester 95, Savage 99, Marlins with this method.