I'm not a CAS shooter, but I bought a Cimarron 1897 today. I have always thought that the design was cool and I like that it sort of spans interests (especially in its configuration)- bearing resemblence to martial weapons used through several conflicts, LE weapons, and field guns. Factory chokes tubes on a "riot" gun are a nice touch- which give it some utility value should I decide to use it in the field or in a competition that requires knocking down steel or pins. I understand that when firing,  to rack the action you pull forward then to the rear. Do you use the same range of motion (in conjunction with the bolt-lock release) when clearing the weapon/ opening the action without firing, or is there another trick?

I'd strongly suggest repeatedly dry cycling (without ammunition) the shotgun many multiple times to become familiar with its idiosyncrasies BEFORE using it with live ammunition.
The 1897 will "slam fire" which means if you hold the trigger down and cycle it, it will fire another round as soon as the bolt closes.
You should be able to un-load it by depressing the release on the side, the idea of pulling forward is to un-lock the bolt from the receiver, which on a new/tight gun may be necessary.
Sometimes (if you can)  press the shell latch in, which will allow the shell to pop out past it; what you're doing is loading it in reverse.

Thanks

That's why I put unloading in quotation marks. Dry and with dummies. The more I practice that mechanism, the more natural it seems to be.

I'm familiar with the slam fire feature.

I do have to use the button and pull-forward when racking the action while clearing. I asked because the salesman had no clue, so I wanted to make sure that everything was working right.

Mine is still pretty tight. It does not appear to have been used much.

I've seen people unload pumps by holding a button and racking them through the chamber - but why?

If its a M97/copy just press the two buttons on either side of the receiver and the shells will pop out of the magazine.  That's how I unloaded mine when I used to hunt with it.  They will come out pretty fast/hard but they come out without risking a hammer drop on one in the chamber.

My father-in-law used to tell a story about a cousin of his shooting a leg off the kitchen table at his grandparents house one morning before a deer hunt.  He sat down at the table with the gun across his thighs and started eating.  Their grandpa asked Dewey if the gun was loaded and Dewey admitted it was.  The old man got onto Dewey for bringing a loaded gun into the house so Dewey started pumping the slide to unload it and blew a table leg off (not only scared the crap out of everyone but it dumped breakfast in the floor, too) off the kitchen table.

Dewey caught hell over that one and was not invited back for the next deer season.

'97 has to be cycled to unload because the shell retention levers have to release a shell from the magazine.  They only do this when the lifter (action block) is in the down position (action open).  

Use the slide release button on the right side of the receiver to cycle the action.  

ALWAYS check the follower to be sure all the shells came out.  As the gun wears, the shell mechanism can become inconsistent -- retaining shells when they're supposed to be released.  Visually confirm that no shells remain in the magazine.  Merely cycling the gun does not assure the magazine is empty.  You must visually verify this by looking at the magazine follower.  (fyi, some guys paint the follower to help in this process -- especially important during a match).

Muzzle direction is CRITICAL when clearing a '97.  (there are reasons newer designs have taken over)

Mine will release the shells from the magazine when the two buttons on either side of the receiver are pressed.  But its a Winchester so maybe the copies are different???

I always unloaded my magazine that way vs. cycling them through the barrel, or, some other way.  Too easy to just press the two buttons.  They do come out fast though with the spring pressure on them.

My will do it, but is very tight and requires a little bit of finger action to prevent carrier interference. Much easier to just shuck.

When I started this thread, I was mostly concerned with unlocking the bolt to clear the chamber.

Regardless after practicing and some actual use, much easier. Very fun gun to shoot. (The ability to hold down the trigger and pump is over rated)