Wearing a clown mask, Cameron Peter Canniford pointed the sawn off shotgun at a 51-year-old man's face and pulled the trigger.
Canniford had already fired the weapon in the air to keep the man's family at bay after entering a Brisbane granny flat with an armed co-accused demanding drugs.
However, when the man grabbed a baseball bat and chased them, Canniford pulled the trigger again - this time with the shotgun aimed at the 51-year-old's head just metres away.
The man was hit above the eye with a shotgun shell filled with rock salt, suffering a laceration that required stitches.
The home invasion at Bray Park in October 2021 occurred less than two months after Canniford had been released on parole, Brisbane District Court heard.
He was still wearing a GPS tracking device issued for his parole release which was used by police to implicate Canniford in the attempted armed robbery.
The two co-offenders have not been identified.
The court heard Canniford and a co-offender were dropped off near the man's granny flat, which was a shed attached to a house where family members lived.
They were both wearing clown masks that covered their faces as well as orange, high visibility shirts.
When the pair entered the shed, the co-offender activated a Taser and told the man "give us your drugs, where are your drugs".
The man was in the shed with his niece at the time.
As the co-offender began searching the shed, the man's brother tried to intervene but returned to the nearby house after Canniford threatened him with the shotgun.
Canniford then fired the weapon in the air in an attempt to prevent any other family members in the house interfering, the court heard.
When Canniford returned to the shed, the man picked up the baseball bat and hit the co-offender on the arm before chasing them.
Canniford started running but turned to face the man who was "two to three metres away" and fired the shotgun at his head.
He then fled with the co-offender and they were picked up in the car that had dropped them off earlier.
Canniford, 32, was significantly affected by drugs at the time, the court heard.
He was homeless by 13 and started using methamphetamine by 15.
At one stage he was using up to two grams a day.
His defence barrister said Canniford had indicated that he was now sick of the way he had been living.
Now with a stable partner and a job offer, Canniford had reconnected with his family and aimed to move away from "negative peer groups" when released, she said.
The court heard Canniford had a lengthy criminal history but the home invasion was a "real escalation".
Canniford pleaded guilty to five charges including dangerous conduct with a weapon and wounding.
Judge Terry Gardiner sentenced him to six years in jail, with Canniford eligible for parole in January 2024.
