Jack Whalan, 30, had no criminal record before he was involved in a burglary on a Benloch property in October last year and stole two chainsaws, three motorcycles, a baseball bat and a .22 rifle, valued at just under $7000.

On October 12, Whalan went to a Taylors Lakes pawn shop and sold two of the stolen motorcycles for $1700, using his own name. Later that month, Whalan sold a stolen generator and radio to an Epping pawn shop.

The following month officers from the Macedon Ranges Criminal Investigation Unit attended Whalan's home and found the stolen chainsaws and the firearm in his ute.

The rifle had been shortened and had a homemade silencer attached.

They also discovered 2.5 grams of methamphetamine and a double-edged knife.

Whalan was arrested and admitted his offences.

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On Friday he was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment and a two-year community corrections order with supervision and drug treatment, having already spent 100 days in custody.

He had pleaded guilty to theft of a firearm, burglary, theft, two charges of obtaining property by deception, possessing an unregistered handgun, possessing methamphetamine, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a silencer without a permit.

Defence lawyer Julien Lowy had submitted Whalan be sentenced to a term of imprisonment and a community corrections order.

Mr Lowy said a period of imprisonment with a non-parole period, as prosecutor David Cordy submitted, would stretch to a period of time that was unfair for someone with no prior convictions.

Judge Michael Cahill noted Whalan came from a close family and had a solid employment history.

"The offending simply is motivated by his drug use," Mr Lowy said.

But Mr Cordy said a term of imprisonment with a community corrections order would be inadequate given the seriousness of rifle theft and the problem of burglaries in rural communities. "It is the scourge of people who live in rural areas," he said.

But Judge Cahill said that while the firearm theft was serious, Whalan had good prospects of rehabilitation, was a first-time offender and pleaded guilty.

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