I'm not tremendously picky about ammo. Most of the brand-name, modern, made-for-LE stuff is outstanding. My first preference is an ATK product, with HST having a tiny edge in performance and Gold Dot having a tiny edge in time-proven function in a wide variety of firearms. I'm happy with either of those. If I can't get my hands on either of those, I'll go with either Ranger T-series or PDX1 from Winchester. With recent Remington quality control issues becoming even more pronounced (see: the R51) I will be swapping the Golden Saber in my LCP for an ATK or Winchester product in the future, which is a shame since the Saber is a great little bullet design other than jacket shedding issues. Frankly, if it's not ATK or Winchester, I probably won't trust my life with it. Hornady is one popular brand, for instance, that I have seen way too many quality control burps to be a fan of for HD/SD. No offense intended to Hornady folks, that's just my mileage and yours may vary. It also should go without saying that every brand can have quality control burps and all HD/SD ammo should be inspected. I inspect mine round-by-round when I buy it, looking for poorly seated bullets or primers, damage, etc. Anal retentive? Absolutely. My life is worth a minute or two of diligence.
I shoot and refresh my carry/defense ammo every 2 years in the summer.
Beretta PX4 Type F .40 S&W Fullsize (standard nightstand) - 165-grain Federal HST
Beretta 92FS 9x19 (nightstand/car/evening walks) - 124-grain Speer Gold Dot standard pressure
Ruger LCP 9x17 (99% of the time carry) - 102-grain Remington Golden Saber
Colt Detective Special .38 Spec. (1% of the time carry) - 130-grain Winchester PDX1 +P
Rock Island Armory .45 ACP (mostly unassigned, sometimes car gun) - 230-grain Speer Gold Dot standard pressure
Colt Python .357 Mag (usually living room table drawer) - 125-grain Speer Gold Dot