I don't know beans about the artillery wheels, but the AD stock rims all had the clips riveted on, fyi.
(I can't weld myself, but I used to run a manuacturing company that made steel products, and I had to proof a lot of engineering drawings.) We used to specify spot welds for products with steel tabs. These tabs were used for anchoring our product in concrete - but they were about the same gauge steel and size as the clips on AD trucks. The spot welds were spec'd rather than standard MIG welds because they added less heat to the process and caused less warpage to the underlying structure.
My advice is to get some scrap and practice on something other than your desirable artillary wheels. I'm sure you can get pick up a scrap rim from a local salvage yard on the cheap. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
