Jordan Bourke, 27, has admitted to firing the weapon during a fight with his former friend Dusty Lyons on November 15, 2018, outside units on Hague Road.

He appeared in Wodonga Supreme Court on Wednesday to plead guilty to conduct endangering life, being a prohibited person possessing a firearm and possessing ammunition.

Crown Prosecutor Kristie Churchill said Mr Lyons was at Bourke's next-door neighbour's house that day when animosity between the pair turned into an "aggressive exchange of words" including about Mr Lyons having a drug habit.

Bourke then pulled out the gun and confronted the victim.

Ms Churchill said Bourke aimed above the head of Mr Lyons and pulled the trigger, which resulted in about 20 particles lodging in his victim's head and caused bleeding.

Some were removed with tweezers before he went to hospital to have the rest removed.

Mr Lyons had claimed he was shot point-blank, but investigations found the gun would have been shot 60 centimetres away for the particles to lodge in his forehead the way they did.

Ms Churchill said Bourke asked a friend to go to his house and get his CCTV footage because he did not want evidence of him holding the gun.

Police also found two bullet holes in the ceiling of Bourke's lounge room when investigating the incident, but the gun has never been recovered.

Bourke told police at the time that "these charges are a crock of bulls---".

He has spent the past 15 months in custody.

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The court heard he has a previous conviction for a firearm offence, which led him to being a person prohibited from possessing any firearms.

"Negotiations have been on foot for some time. An indication to plead to this charge (of conduct endangering life) was made some time ago," Ms Churchill said.

Dressed in a suit and tie, Bourke warmly greeted his supporters in court.

The case will return to court on Thursday for his barrister David Gray to make submissions on his behalf, including arguing that Mr Lyons had a knife at the time.

"It's a matter, in my respectful opinion, this is important," he said.

Justice Jane Dixon said that in previous statements, a friend of Mr Lyons told police that the victim may have had the knife to "butter his toast" and Mr Lyons said the knife would not be much use up against a gun.

She said she was pleased the case was not going ahead as a trial so jurors would not have to be in an enclosed space with each other during health fears.

"I was a little bit anxious about how a jury might feel with coronavirus, how they might feel being in a courtroom for a couple of weeks," she said.