The present invention concerns a weft carrying gripper for shut­tleless looms, of the type comprising clamping means in the form of a pair of longitudinally extending elements in reciprocal contact, a first clamping element consisting of a stiff bar (4) and a second clamping element being in the form of a leaf spring (8) apt to impart a contact pressure on said first element along a plane substantially parallel to the gripper axis. According to the invention, one of said clamping elements is connected to a slider (2) movable longitudinally in respect of the gripper body, and the other clamping element is fixedly mounted on the gripper body; cam means are moreover interposed between said slider and the gripper body in order to produce a movement apt to draw said clamping element associated to the slider and said fixed clamping element close and apart, in response to the forward and backward movement of the slider.