Surgical instrument with fastener preload lockout

A surgical instrument system comprising:

• a tray;
• a surgical instrument loaded in the tray, the surgical instrument including:
• a handle;
• an elongated shaft extending in a distal direction from the handle;
• a stack of fasteners located within the elongated shaft;
• and
• a fastener deployment system configured to deploy at least one of the fasteners from the elongated shaft in the distal direction in response to actuation thereof, the fastener deployment system configured to engage and apply a first load to the stack of fasteners in the distal direction prior to actuation thereof;
• a lock-out removably attached to the elongated shaft, the lock-out configured and arranged to prevent the fastener deployment system from applying the first load to the stack of fasteners while the lock-out is attached to the elongated shaft, the lock-out including at least one pair of opposed clip fingers configured to receive and engage the elongated shaft therebetween, the lock-out including a shroud configured to cover the opposed clip fingers when the lock-out is attached to and/or removed from the elongated shaft;
• and
• a tether coupling the lock-out to the tray so that the lock-out remains attached to the tray when the lock-out is detached from the elongated shaft.