The trauma of having a gun shot just 60 centimetres away from his head has remained with Dusty Lyons.
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He and his former friend Jordan Bourke got into a fight on November 15, 2018 when Bourke fired the weapon, causing about 20 particles to fly into his forehead.
In his victim impact statement read in Wodonga Supreme Court on Thursday, he said he was in a "constant state of anxiety and fear".
"My physical injury could have been substantial, and I'm lucky to be alive, however my mental state is the most substantial," Mr Lyons said.
"I often have flashbacks of the shooting and think about what I could have done differently and what my life could have been."
Mr Lyons was not in court for Thursday's hearing, but his statement was read out by the prosecutor.
"This was extremely traumatic and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy," he said in the statement.
The confrontation had occurred outside units on Hague Street in Wodonga, following a heated exchange between the former friends.
Crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill said the particles were removed from the forehead of Mr Lyons and did not cause serious injury.
"They were described as 'breadcrumb-like', so quite small," she said.
Bourke's barrister David Gray told the court that Mr Lyons was also armed.
"The victim was armed with a knife when he confronted my client and at the time of the incident (when the gun was fired), he was armed with a knife," he said.
"The firearm was fired deliberately to miss, to scare him."
A witness to the incident, who was a friend of Bourke's, previously gave evidence that "we were all sharing a crack pipe at that stage".
He said before the shooting, Mr Lyons had held the knife in a "threatening type mode".
"Jordan cocked the rifle and started laughing ... Dusty ran back inside," he previously told police.
My Lyons had said he was busy filling out his Centrelink forms at the time Bourke was outside, while his former partner also gave a conflicting account that he had run back inside to the kitchen to get a pen. "It beggars belief that he would go outside and confront my client waving a pen," Mr Gray said.
The gun has never been recovered, but Mr Gray said it was a single-shot weapon.
He conceded the shooting was not a "justifiable act" in terms of self-defence.
"It's no excuse," he said.
Bourke's former partner said his drug use started about four years ago.
She said Bourke went down the wrong track, but was confident he would get back to working hard and being a good father to their child when released from custody.
Ms Churchill said Bourke had tested positive for drug use twice since being in custody. Mr Gray said these occurred during two low points for Bourke.
The case was adjourned for Justice Jane Dixon to hand her down her sentence at a later date.
