An apparatus for application of surgical clips to body tissue, the apparatus comprising: a handle assembly; a shaft assembly including a housing extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis; a clip carrier carrying a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the shaft assembly; jaws mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the shaft assembly, the jaws being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; and a pusher bar reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, and being detachably connectable to the housing of the shaft assembly, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal most surgical clip into the jaws during distal movement while the jaws are in the open condition and remain connected to the housing of the shaft assembly and -in contact with the loaded surgical clip in a distally advanced position during an approximation of the jaws, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly and detachably connected to the pusher bar, the pusher bar including a first spring clip supported thereon for detachably engaging a first feature of the connector plate, wherein during an initial distal movement of the connector plate the pusher bar is distally advanced and during a further distal movement of the connector plate the connector plate is disconnected from the pusher bar, wherein the first feature of the connector plate disengages from the first spring clip following the initial distal movement of the connector plate. a handle assembly; a shaft assembly including a housing extending distally from the handle assembly and defining a longitudinal axis; a clip carrier carrying a plurality of surgical clips disposed within the shaft assembly; jaws mounted adjacent a distal end portion of the shaft assembly, the jaws being movable between an open spaced-apart condition and a closed approximated condition; and a pusher bar reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly, and being detachably connectable to the housing of the shaft assembly, the pusher bar being configured to load a distal most surgical clip into the jaws during distal movement while the jaws are in the open condition and remain connected to the housing of the shaft assembly and -in contact with the loaded surgical clip in a distally advanced position during an approximation of the jaws, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly and detachably connected to the pusher bar, the pusher bar including a first spring clip supported thereon for detachably engaging a first feature of the connector plate, wherein during an initial distal movement of the connector plate the pusher bar is distally advanced and during a further distal movement of the connector plate the connector plate is disconnected from the pusher bar, wherein the first feature of the connector plate disengages from the first spring clip following the initial distal movement of the connector plate. a connector plate reciprocally disposed within the shaft assembly and detachably connected to the pusher bar, the pusher bar including a first spring clip supported thereon for detachably engaging a first feature of the connector plate, wherein during an initial distal movement of the connector plate the pusher bar is distally advanced and during a further distal movement of the connector plate the connector plate is disconnected from the pusher bar, wherein the first feature of the connector plate disengages from the first spring clip following the initial distal movement of the connector plate.