Abstract: An apparatus for inserting weft wires in flat weaving power looms wherein a shuttle is moved by carriages which are disposed above and below the shed defined by the warp wires and which are guided by magnetic means and wherein the shuttle is a gripper shuttle, the shuttle and the carriages include permanent magnets, and the drive means for the carriages is one of a stepping motor, a speed-controlled three-phase current motor and a disk rotor motor which effects positioning of the carriages and thus of the gripper shuttle at the weft transfer points by a holding force.