Welcome to the forum. I'm answering off the top of my caffeine-deprived head, so take these responses as guides to research rather than the word from on high.
The S/N puts it about 1923/24, though it might have shipped a year later.
Heat treating began before this, so these cylinders are a little stronger than the ones manufactured 10 years earlier.
The modern hammer block system came along in the late 1930s, but that doesn't mean you should have to carry an empty chamber. Test it for yourself - can you push the hammer forward far enough for the pin to protrude into firing position when your hands are nowhere near the trigger? If not, you're probably safe.
Modern .32 short and long loads are probably OK unless you find some that say "high velocity" or "tactical maximum explode-o" or something like that on the box. Find some cowboy or downpressure loads if or you want to be safe. I don't know that they exist, but I suspect they do.
Yes, .32 Long can be very accurate from longer barrels, but I don't know if that applies equally to the shorter ones. I seem to recall that .32 S&W long groups are better than .32 Colt and even .32-20 Winchester (for which S&W offered a K-frame gun before WWII). I believe Fiocchi makes .32 long wadcutter ammo.
I-frames are great guns. I have a 1923 .32 RP target model and some prewar .22/32s.
Here's a link to a thread a I started several days ago about the Regulation Police target revolver that I just mentioned. It is just slighty older than your fixed-sight gun. There's a page image from the 1925 S&W catalog that may interest you.
Don't see one of these too often -- .32 Regulation Police Target Model (1923)