Here is my anecdotal experience so far in recent times.
I am partial to MagTech, even though I don't generally buy foreign ammunition (bought my first box before I realized it was made in Brazil). I have used only the 180 grain FMJ and HP's in .40 S&W. It is clean, and has been 100 percent reliable so far for me.
A friend just got me some 9x19 FMJ from Sellier & Bellot (Czech). It was only $4.99 a box on a special sale from Natchez. I haven't tried it. I've seen some posts r.e. [sic] "squid"
, (squib) loads with it but my friend says he has never had one. It gets a good reputation.
I personally like Winchester and Federal ammunition.
American Eagle seems o.k., but I like MagTech, Winchester, Federal better (they seem a little cleaner).
I find UMC to be VERY dirty (and I hate cleaning guns). I would use it if it was a last resort.
Years ago, when I was a firearms instructor, our agency used a lot of .38 spl 3-D factory reloads in our trainees' revolvers for range work, and had great results with them - better results than with some factory new ammo. If I recall, we had something like 3 rounds out of several thousand that didn't go bang. Nowadays, I've seen posts that were pretty derogatory of the 3-D rounds. I don't use reloads in any of my semi-autos, especially the Glock, and we won't get into that issue here. Based on what I've heard about 3-D lately, I'd avoid it.
-10CFR