An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising:a handle assembly including a trigger and a drive bar reciprocally translatable by the trigger upon an actuation thereofa shaft assembly extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis, the shaft assembly including:a housinga plurality of surgical clips disposed within the housinga jaw mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the housing, the jaw being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated conditiona pusher bar reciprocally disposed within the housing, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal-most surgical clip into the jaws while the jaws are in the open condition and remain in a distal-most position during an approximation of the jawsa wedge plate reciprocally disposed within the housing, the wedge plate being movable between a position where a distal end thereof is disposed in the jaws and a position where the distal end thereof is free from said jaws anda connector plate reciprocally disposed within the housing, wherein the connector plate detachably connects to each of the pusher bar and the wedge plate during at least a portion of the firing stoke of the apparatus.
