Efforts to increase read range in passive HF RFID systems are hampered by the poor range scaling law of inductive coupling. An alternative approach to enlarging capture volume—increasing the lateral extent of the antenna—is proposed, using a magneto-inductive (MI) travelling wave arrangement to allow larger antenna sizes. A theory of load modulation in MI systems is first presented, together with field simulations in the capture volume. A 2.3 metre-long MI antenna is then constructed, and an active tag emulator is used to demonstrate load modulation. RFID is then demonstrated, with the antenna in both reflection and transmission modes, using a custom reader constructed from laboratory equipment. A transverse read range of 0.5 m is obtained using commercial off-the-shelf RFID cards with 12 W RF power, with high uniformity along the length of the antenna.