Tom, if your revolver had that much original nickel, I would advise you not to carry it, but looks like a very nice re-nickel, so go for it. The sideplate joint should look practically invisible on a factory gun and I believe the trigger and guard should be case hardened.

Are you sure that you have a .38? It looks like a .32 cylinder length, but hard to tell. If it is a .32, it was probably made after 1898. Factory ammo should be fine in this S&W.