Having recently purchased a .32 S&W Long revolver, I revisited firing .32 ACP ammunition in it. Not a new experience for me, but it has been awhile since I last did it. I fired several boxes of both factory (Remington) .32 ACP FMJ loadings, plus some overly warm .32 ACP lead bullet reloads that I felt a little uncertain about firing in a semiauto. Both seemed to group about as well as .32 Long loads at 15 yards. The major problem I encountered was occasional misfires. The reason for this is that the semi-rim of the .32 ACP is thinner than the full rim of the .32 Long. Therefore, it creates enough excess headspace to result in a shallow indent of the primer by the firing pin and the potential for a misfire. That is not really significant for fun shooting, but I wouldn't stake my life on using .32 ACP cartridges in a revolver used for any serious purpose. Second, I did experience some rim overrides by the extractor star, just something you need to be careful about. Again not a serious problem for fun shooting, not so desirable for anything else.

Conclusion is that yes, you can use .32 ACP in a more modern solid frame revolver, but don't do it for any targets more dangerous than paper or tin cans.