This safety lever is not pushed up and down all the time. I think early lever design was dropped quickly by Mauser because (1) it's hard to operate; (2) the safety knob on/off position is not visually obvious; and (3) it's probably too fragile. But it's still needed in certain scenarios, e.g. unloading via removing magazine floor plate, safety better be on because these is a chambered round.
So, it's not really related with shooting very much. Even with this lever totally removed, the gun still shoots
