An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising: a handle assembly (102) a drive rod (140) actuatable by the handle assembly (102) and connected to a connector plate for effecting movement of the connector plate a set of trunk (104) extending distally from the handle assembly (102) and defining a longitudinal axis, the assembly body (104) includes: a plurality of arranged surgical fasteners within the set of trunk (104 ) and a clamp (106) mounted adjacent a distal end portion of stem assembly (104), the clamp (106) is movable between a spaced open position and a closed approximated position a plate connector disposed reciprocatingly within the set of trunk (104) a pusher bar (156) arranged reciprocally in the set of trunk (104), the push rod (156) is configured to load a distal-most surgical clip into the jaws (106) while the jaws (106) are in the open position and it is in contact with the surgical fastener loaded during an approximation of the jaws (106) one feed plate (162) arranged reciprocally in the set of trunk (104), the feed plate is engaged by the pusher bar (156) and a wedge plate (172) arranged reciprocally in the set of trunk (104 ) and movable between a position in which a distal end thereof is disposed in the jaws (106) and a position in which the distal end thereof is free from said jaws (106) characterized in that said pusher bar (156) includes: a first spring clip (157a) supported thereon to connect selectively to a characteristic of the set of trunk (104) when the pusher bar (156) is in an advanced position to selectively maintain the push rod (156) in the advanced position and a second spring clip supported thereon for connecting selectively to a first feature of a connector plate, wherein the first feature of the connector plate selectively disengages from the second spring clip following the initial distal movement binding the pusher bar and the connecting plate yy wherein the wedge plate (172) includes a third spring cli
