Surgical Stapling Apparatus

A surgical stapler, comprising:

• a handle assembly operably supporting a movable handle;
• an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle assembly;
• a tool assembly disposed at a distal end of the elongated body portion, the tool assembly including:
• an anvil assembly;
• a cartridge assembly, at least one of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly being movable relative to the other between an open position and a clamped position, the cartridge assembly including a first plurality of staples and a second plurality of staples;
• a drive bar being translatable through the cartridge assembly to eject the first plurality of staples from the cartridge assembly;
• at least one reload bar being translatable through the cartridge assembly independently of the drive bar to move the second plurality of staples within the cartridge assembly to a position for subsequent ejection from the cartridge assembly;
• and
• a fire and reload assembly being transitionable between a firing mode and a reload mode, wherein, in the firing mode, the fire and reload assembly engages the movable handle with the drive bar such that actuation of the movable handle ejects the first plurality of staples from the cartridge assembly, and wherein, in the reload mode, the fire and reload assembly engages the movable handle with the at least one reload bar such that actuation of the movable handle moves the second plurality of staples within the cartridge assembly to a position for subsequent ejection from the cartridge assembly.