Echuca man Toby Fehring, 44, appeared in the County Court on Thursday where he admitted to taking two rifles and a shotgun from the properties in Patho and McMillans.

The court heard about 7am on March 21 this year, the owner of the piggeries noticed the gates to his properties were left unhinged.

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The man checked his gun safes and found that a .22 calibre rifle, a .410 shotgun, and a Winchester .22 rifle had been removed.

Power tools and a Holden Rodeo ute had also been taken from the businesses.

The next day, a witness spotted Fehring's co-accused sitting on the gates to the cattle yards. The man approached the witness, asking for help because he had bogged his ute.

The witness noticed the man was acting "half out of it" so he called the police.

Officers arrived and found that the co-accused's car was the outstanding stolen ute. The man was arrested but refused to comment during his record of interview.

On March 24, detectives searched Fehring's Echuca home because it was linked to the co-accused.

In the garden shed at the back of the property, police located the stolen power tools.

Fehring was arrested at his home on April 28. His mobile phone was seized, with call records showing he was in the Patho and McMillans areas at the time of the thefts.

The 44-year-old was taken to the Echuca Police Station for questioning.

Fehring admitted to attending the piggeries with his co-accused with the intention of stealing firearms.

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He told police he had worked for the piggeries' owner about ten years earlier so he knew where the guns were stored.

Fehring admitted to hiding the stolen tools in his garden shed, but said his co-accused took the firearms.

He told police he believed his co-accused had sold the firearms but he did not know to whom.

The court heard the stolen firearms have not been recovered.

Defence counsel Robert Timms said Fehring had an "ongoing and problematic" drug addiction, which needed to be "seriously addressed".

Mr Timms said Fehring had also been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, stimulant use disorder, and substance-induced psychotic disorder.

The defence counsel said Fehring was receiving a disability support pension due to an intellectual disability.

Mr Timms conceded it was an aggravating feature that the firearms were yet to be located.

But he said Fehring should not receive a jail term because of his personal circumstances and compliance with the police.

Judge Mark Dean said while he accepted such serious crimes usually warranted a term of imprisonment, this was an "unusual case".

Judge Dean said he would not jail Fehring and instead have him assessed for a community corrections order.

The case was adjourned so Fehring could undergo the assessment. The 44-year-old is due to be sentenced in the County Court on Friday.

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