ba_50, I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish, exactly. If you're looking for a current production semi-auto rifle that doesn't have military roots, you'll have no more luck with that than finding a bolt-action rifle that doesn't have military roots.
Is it the military roots that bother you? I know you've said you didn't like the way the AR series feels. That's fine. But you've shot down or ignored other suggestions, too.
The Mini-14 has been mentioned. Yes, Bill Ruger patterned it after the M-14 (which was patterned after the M1 Garand). So what? With a factory 5-round magazine in it, it looks as innocuous as any other firearm. And as for accuracy, a couple of cheap mods (changing the gas bushing and gapping the gas block correctly) to the Ranch Rifle can improve its accuracy significantly, on top of the fact that the newer ones seem to be getting relatively good reports for accuracy anyway.
A couple of people have mentioned the Kel-Tec SU-16. The only thing that comes close to making it a "military style assault rifle" (a stupid, commie pinko liberal whine bag phrase that gun owners should refuse to use on general principle anyway) is the fact that it takes M-16/AR-15 magazines.
If I understand correctly, you want an "affordable, semi-auto, eats .223 Remington, and doesn't look like a scary military gun". If the Mini-14 with a wood stock and a 5-round magazine or a Kel-Tec SU-16 look too much like a scary military gun, you don't really have any other options.
